Mass Incarceration: The Presidents

Nixon Administration 1971

Nixon’s trusted advisor spoke out and said that the war on drugs was a war on black people. The images that the media and Nixon had used painted a picture of urban and black communities being the main place where drug issues took place. This is one traceable starting point of black communities being blamed for drug crimes. Nixon’s plan lead to a racial profile being created of those that used recreational drugs.

It also lead to an increase of incarceration of nonviolent criminals, seeing as how most non violent criminals are convicted of drug crimes.

Reagan Administration 1984

Reagan passed the comprehensive criminal reform act, and the bail reform act. The bail reform act allowed judges to take civilian safety into consideration when granting or denying bail

the Correction Corporation of America was awarded a contract to take over a correctional facility and it was the first prison in the United States to be private owned. (This created a big problem because of private prisons being opened made it easier to care for low cost inmates, and now people can make money off of those in jail)

Bush Administration 1989

Bush gave an oval office speech about the war on drugs. He said he pledged one billion dollars to build more prisons and facilities, stating, that that is what we need.

From this mandatory minimum sentences were enacted, and racial disparities were worsened.

Clinton Administration 1994

Bill Clinton passed the 3 strikes policy which mandates a life sentence for those who commit violent felonies after 2 prior convictions. This amplified mass incarceration issues significantly.

It became impossible for you to be taken seriously for candidacy and be soft on crime. Around 1987 the murder was increasing by 5% every year and Bill’s reaction was to squash the violent crime by keeping repeat offenders locked up permanently  

Now this graph here shows the number of incarcerated citizens increasing exponentially from 1994 to around 1999 and then it plateaus and slowly continues to creep up. You can also see that there are more 3 time strikers in jail than 2nd time, and this policy drastically increases those in prison.

Bush Administration 2004

Prison Rape elimination act of 2003 focused on ending sexual assault in prisons, this is helpful toward ending mass incarceration because sexual assault that happens to prisoners makes them far more likely to commit violent crimes and end up back in prison. The sexual assault of people that have committed nonviolent crimes is a big issue.

300 million dollar grant by George Bush (Prisoner Reentry Initiative) will give people a second chance by providing education and job training, which will help decrease the likelihood of people committing more crimes and going back to prison.

Bush believed that people need to know their rights, but that we shouldn’t stop confessions to read people's rights. However, many wouldn't admit to something had they been read their rights.

Obama 2015

Obama spoke at the annual meeting of the NAACP to talk about the problems with mass incarceration also to say: “you forgot women” He spoke about how mass incarceration is not just an issue in the african american community but also a female issue, because it happens to women too.

He also mentioned that we spend $80 billion a year on incarceration, and quote: “could provide free pre-K for every 3 and 4 year old, or double the salary of every high school teacher.”

He ended his speech by calling for an end to mass incarceration, and to build communities that offer second chances.

He was the first president to visit a jail and talk with corrections officers about issues they face.

As a result of this visit 6,000 inmates were going to be released federally. Of that 6,000 about 1,800 were illegal immigrants that were turned over to ICE and a deportation process was beginning (all 1,800 had committed violent felonies on top of being undocumented, and as part of an effort of immigration reform, Obama ordered they be turned over to ICE). Many of the others went to halfway housing where they can receive the rehabilitation and treatment that they need to be reintegrated to society.

The Obama Administration also had some unconventional ideas to reduce mass incarceration. The idea behind raising minimum wage (which I did not know) was to reduce illegal activity that has been found in low income areas to make ends meet (a 3-5% decrease in crime and incarceration). Another idea was to add around $10 billion to expand police forces and cut back on crime by around 16%.

Works Cited

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TheGrio. The Grio, 29 Mar. 2016. Web. 30 Mar. 2017.

Diamond, Jeremy. "Bill Clinton Concedes Role in Mass Incarceration." CNN. Cable News

Network, 07 May 2015. Web. 22 Mar. 2017.    

Ehrenfreund, Max. "Obama’s advisers just revealed an unconventional solution to mass

incarceration." The Washington Post. WP Company, 25 Apr. 2016. Web. 01 May

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<http://www.ontheissues.org/Celeb/George_W__Bush_Crime.htm>.

Guillen, Magdalena. "Mass release of US prisoners spells deportation for hundreds."

AOL.com. AOL, 14 July 2016. Web. 01 May 2017.

"Go to Bing homepage." Nixons War on Drugs - Bing images. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Apr.

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Lopez, German. "Obama: $80 Billion Spent on Incarceration Could Eliminate Tuition at Public

Universities." Vox. Vox, 14 July 2015. Web. 30 Mar. 2017.    

Moore, Antonio. "President Bill Clinton Gets It Wrong On Mass Incarceration." The Huffington

Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 07 Apr. 2016. Web. 22 Mar. 2017.

Neyfakh, Leon. "Obama Wants to End Mass Incarceration. But Does He Have the Power to

Make a Difference?" Slate Magazine. N.p., 15 July 2015. Web. 14 Mar. 2017.   

Newman, Tony, and Bill Piper. "Friday: 25th Anniversary of President George H.W. Bush's

Infamous Oval Office Speech Escalating "War on Drugs"." Drug Policy Alliance. Drug