Timothy O'Toole was quoted in a news release regarding the Davis v. United States Sentencing Commission appeal. In an amicus curiae brief, filed on December 18, 2014, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) argued that the 100:1 federal sentencing ratio for powder to crack cocaine violated the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution. O'Toole, who authored NACDL's amicus curiae brief in Davis and serves as the Vice Chair of its White Collar Committee, commented on the guidelines' effect on African Americans. "When Congress acted to save the 100:1 ratio in 1995, it had before it overwhelming evidence that this ratio discriminated against African Americans and that there existed no rational justification for preserving it. It is hard to imagine a more textbook Equal Protection violation," he said.