( CNN ) -- The Justice Department is set to make it easier for more federal prisoners sentenced for crack cocaine offenses to get clemency applications into the bureaucratic pipeline . Attorney General Eric Holder said Monday that expanded criteria will soon be put in place , and anticipates a sharp increase in the number of eligible petitioners . Inmates seeking a reduced or suspended sentence must first ask the department for relief , and those applications are then reviewed by the president . The pending changes are the latest step in an ongoing effort to remedy the once-common wide disparity in sentences handed down over powder versus crack cocaine , based on guidelines first enacted by Congress more than 25 years ago . The issue has been a major policy priority for Holder and President Barack Obama . In addition to the clemency angle , the administration has been pushing to give prosecutors more flexibility in certain non-violent criminal cases , and recommending rehabilitation instead of warehousing of prisoners . `` The White House has indicated it wants to consider additional clemency applications to restore a degree of justice , fairness and proportionality for deserving individuals who do not pose a threat to public safety , '' said Holder in a videotaped message posted on the department 's website . `` The Justice Department is committed to recommending as many qualified applicants as possible for reduced sentences . '' Holder : I back a plan to reduce some drug-related sentences . The department later this week promised more specifics on the new criteria , including how it will handle an expected flood of clemency requests . Obama three years ago signed the Fair Sentencing Act to address the larger issue . And last December , he commuted the sentences of eight federal inmates convicted of crack cocaine crimes , concluding those offenses that did not justify such lengthy prison terms . The issue has racial overtones , since U.S . Sentencing Commission figures in 2006 showed African-Americans made up nearly 82 percent of defendants sentenced in federal court for dealing crack , but only 27 percent of those sentenced for dealing powder cocaine . In 2011 , federal courts dealt with more than 10,000 cocaine sentences a year , roughly evenly divided between crack and cases involving the powdered substance . Until the changes started nearly a decade ago , the sentencing guidelines provided for a 100-to-1 ratio between the penalties for crack cocaine offenses versus those for powdered cocaine . Dealing 5 grams of crack meant some defendants could get as much prison time as someone who dealt 500 grams of powder . The 100-to-1 factor had long been a source of contention between government prosecutors and civil rights advocates , who argued crack dealers were targeted for longer prison terms because that drug is prevalent in urban and minority communities , while the powdered version is more commonly associated with higher-income users . Actions taken by the President , lawmakers , and the Sentencing Commission -- an independent federal agency that advises all three branches of government on sentences -- served to cut the gap in recommended prison time for offenses involving the two varieties of cocaine . In the private sector , Families Against Mandatory Minimums has fought for changes in mandatory cocaine penalties for years . The fair sentencing law changed the 100-to-1 disparity between minimum sentences for crack and powder cocaine to 18 to 1 . The Sentencing Commission subsequently voted to make the reduced crack penalties retroactive , which meant more than 12,000 current inmates are eligible to request reduced sentences . Previous presidential administrations had argued that Congress made a special point of creating the 100-to-1 ratio to send a tough message to crack dealers . The harsher sentences came after a social epidemic of crack cocaine began destroying many urban areas in the 1980s . Congress then established guidelines to ensure relatively consistent sentences for federal criminal defendants . But the Supreme Court in 2005 concluded that while the guidelines are constitutional , they should nevertheless be considered `` advisory , '' not mandatory . Judges could consult them as needed when imposing sentences and their decisions would be given deference on appeal , so long as they were not `` unreasonable . '' Congressional lawmakers -- Republicans and Democrats -- then went back in 2006 with various bills that eventually reduced the disparity in cocaine sentences . Nevertheless , said Holder , `` There are still too many people in federal prison who were sentenced under the old regime -- and who , as a result , will have to spend far more time in prison than they would if sentenced today for exactly the same crime . This is simply not right . '' CNN 's Justice Reporter Evan Perez contributed to this report .
The Justice Department will make it easier for certain prisoners to get clemency petitions . Attorney General Eric Holder said new rules would be put in place soon . He anticipates a sharp increase in the number of inmates eligible to appeal . The bill aims to remedy disparity in sentences for crack vs. powdered cocaine .