Mass Incarceration

Mass incarceration is an era that began in the united states around the year of 1971. The war on drugs was an influential in regards to the prison population rate between 1970 and 2015. The U.S.currently holds the largest prison population in the world totaling a number of more than 2.3 million by the year of 2015. according to the FBI statistics, in 1970 there were over 357,000  prisoners in federal and state prisons combined and by 2015 the number of state and federal prisoners in the U.S. was over 2.3 million.

“Incarceration has increased more than 500% in the last 40 years..Half of the people in federal prisons are serving time for a drug offense” (Sentencing project 2017)

Crack Cocaine was developed in the 1970's and began to spread quickly by the 1980's. Drug sentencing became more harsh and roadside drug tests were invented to help reduce drug driving, The tests worked by binding the antibody to the drug of interest which then produced a positive result. The issue is that the antibody was able to bind to other things that were not cocaine, producing a positive result even if the person being tested had not done cocaine. Crack cocaine penalties were extremely long and harsh compared to other drugs and because of this faulty drug testing there were many innocent people being locked up for long periods of time.

A case study from sentencing project talks about Kemba Smith's story of incarceration. While seven months pregnant she was sentenced to 24.5 years in prison for conspiracy to participate in her boyfriend's drug activities, a non-violent, first-time offense. In her story she claims to have known that her boyfriend at the time was selling drugs and they were living off of the profits. Unfortunately, it did not matter that this was a one-time, non-nonviolent offense. it was an offense in the eyes of the court and she was convicted due to affiliations with her boyfriend's drug selling business. Unfortunately there are thousands more like Kemba and many that have faced life in prison without the chance of parole due to this harsh sentencing. The biggest issue with the treatment of drug cases is the perspective from which it is looked at and the fact that they are designed to put away hardened criminals. Many people are uninformed when it comes to drugs and their effect on society and the penalties are much harsher than needed for those who do not have malicious intent. 

The DPA states that "Despite recent federal reforms of crack sentencing laws much higher penalties still exist for possession and sale of crack, despite the fact that, pharmacologically, it is the same drug as cocaine. Possession of 28 grams of crack cocaine yields a five-year mandatory minimum sentence for a first offense; it takes 500 grams of powder cocaine to prompt the same sentence." 

The laws revolving around drug sentencing provide a deeper explanation as to why such a large population of people are incarcerated due to drug related offenses, Through the development of more accurate drug testing, more flexible laws, and further education on the effect of drugs we can help end the era of mass incarceration 

Works Cited 

"Survey of Inmates in State and Federal Correctional Facilities, 1997 (ICPSR 2598)." Survey of Inmates in State and Federal Correctional Facilities, 1997. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 May 2017.

"Unreliable drug test leads to wrongful convictions." Innocence Project. N.p., 11 July 2016. Web. 02 May 2017.

"Watch Truth About Drugs Documentary Video & Learn About Substance Addiction. Get The Facts About Painkillers, Marijuana, Cocaine, Meth & Other Illegal Drugs." Foundation for a Drug-Free World. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 May 2017.

Mauer, December 21 2016| Marc, December 20, 2016| Angela Maria Kelley & Cristina Moreno, December 20, 2016| Angela Glover Blackwell, December 19 2016| Ron Pollack, and December 19, 2016| Senator Jeff Merkley. "The Obama Legacy: Chipping Away at Mass Incarceration." Talk Poverty. N.p., 21 Dec. 2016. Web. 02 May 2017.