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During the 1970’s, the prison population was steadily on the rise. President Richard Nixon introduced the War On Drugs in June of 1971, which specifically targeted minority groups. Nixon justified these actions by claiming there was a need for harsher punishment on crime(Schroeder and Parsons, 2017). Mass incarceration is a direct result of the War on Drugs, which mostly impacted minority communities, due to racial inequality, longer sentencing for minor crimes, and stricter policing in minority communities.

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Undoubtedly, racial inequality already existed in the country and the War on Drugs only added to this unjust inequality. For instance, in the south, slavery was used as an economic system and after the Civil War ended, the southern economy was in shambles. Four million people that were formerly considered property and part of the economic system, were free. Several issues would arise as a result of the end of the Civil War and the passing of the 13th Amendment, one in which was the fact that there was now a gap in the economic system.  Leaders were now faced with how they were going to fix the economy. The 13th Amendment also brought about another issue and in fact a loophole was discovered, and almost immediately and unfortunately, exploited. In summary, the 13th amendment stated that you are free, unless you are a criminal. With the targeting and unjust incarcerations of minorities, the 13th Amendment that set people free, was now also grabbing that freedom away at a rapid rate. Consequently, shortly after the Civil War, the nation’s first prison boom began (DuVernay, 2016). Minority communities were targeted during this rise based upon social characteristics, whether it was skin color or geographic location (Sampson and Loeffler, 2010). They were arrested for vagrancy and minor crimes and received harsher than normal punishments for these crimes. Because civil rights movements started gaining momentum and crime rates were on the rise, it became easy for politicians to declare that the civil rights movement was the cause of rising crime rates. As a result, the War on Drugs was declared in 1971. President Nixon won his presidential campaign by advocating for law and order, and believed that drug use was public enemy number one. Rather than approaching drug abuse as a health problem, Nixon addressed it as a crime problem. As a result, crime began to stand in for race (DuVernay, 2016).

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In the United States, incarceration affects African American and Latino men at a higher rate than most other forms of criminal justice engagement (Pettit and Gutierrez, 2018). African American men were incarcerated 6.5 times the rate of white males, and 2.5 times the rate of Hispanic males, enduring the highest incarceration rate of all racial groups (Thompson, 2010). Observant of this, John Ehrlichman, one of Nixon’s advisors, was found telling the true racial motives behind the War on Drugs. “The Nixon campaign in 1968 and the Nixon White House after that, had two enemies: the antiwar left and black people. You Understand what I’m saying? We knew we couldn’t make it illegal to be either against the war or black. But by getting the public to associate hippies with marijuana and then blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities. We could arrest their leader, raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news. Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did.” This was not the only racist tendency Nixon had, but the Law and Order campaign became a southern strategy for him. He was influencing white working class in the south to join the Republican party, which was a backlash to the Civil Rights movement (DuVernay, 2016). Minorities soon began to realize, the American promise of liberty, opportunity, and equality, of a fair and just society in which all individuals are treated equal in the eyes of the law, is in jeopardy (Bobo and Thompson, 2006).

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The end of Nixon’s Presidential term came and went, but the War on Drugs continued, as did inequality and unjust imprisonments. Upon President Ronald Regan’s inauguration in January of 1981, the rhetorical war, turned into an actual war. By 1982, the modern War on Drugs was declared (DuVernay, 2016). During this time and through the 1980’s, the crack epidemic became a prominent issue. The media heavily covered this epidemic, instilling fear amongst news viewers, which helped Reagan gain political support and to continue this War on Drugs. In 1986, Congress passed the Anti-Drug Abuse Act, which further funded the War on Drugs, and instituted mandatory minimum prison sentences on drug offenses (U.S. Department of Justice, 1986).  As in previous years, this new sentencing, was not at all equally spread. Possession of five hundred grams of powder cocaine resulted in a five-year sentence, and possession of five grams of crack was also a five-year sentence. Cocaine was considered ‘upscale’, and more expensive drug, meanwhile, crack was cheap, enabling black drug users better means to afford this drug. Because about 80% of crack users were African Americans, mandatory minimums resulted in a disproportionate increase in incarceration rates for nonviolent black drug offenders, as well as charges that the War on Drugs was a racist institution (Gunja, 2003). As Presidents carried out the War on Drugs agenda, incarceration rates continued to soar. By the time Bill Clinton became the President, nearly 1.4 million offenders were in jail or prison (U.S. Department of Justice, 1995).

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Adding to the mass incarceration, California enacted the “Three Strikes and You’re Out” law in 1994 in the wake of the tragic murder of Polly Klaas, whereby her killer had committed several major crimes and was out on release when he took her life. Enacting this law would place a mandatory life sentence for criminals of three convicted felonies (San Diego Attorney, 2018). When the bill was passed that year, this Crime Bill was another influence on the rapid growth of incarceration throughout the country. The bill gave states the ability to hand down even harsher punishments on crime. At this time, all states had approved at least one mandatory minimum law by 1994, but this crime bill promoted even tougher laws and procedures on the ground, including the ability for prosecutors and police to imprison more people for longer periods of time (Ofer, 2019). These harsh, longer sentences were a direct result of the War on Drugs.

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Not only were prison sentences becoming harsher and longer, policing became stricter and more prevalent. President Clinton increased state funding to build more prisons and put more police on the streets. The more police on the street, meant that more people were being sent to prison.  Consequently, incarceration rates were climbing so quickly, that an average of 4200 prisoners convicted of minor crimes were being released monthly, in order to make room for prisoners who were to receive harsher sentencing. Policing was dominant in communities consisting of minorities raising the levels of fear and angst.  By the end of Clinton’s presidency in 2001, over 2 million people were in prison and the racial inequality continued. Racial  tensions were at an all-time high among police, neighborhood watchmen, and minority communities. In February 2012, armed neighborhood watchman, George Zimmerman, began following Trayvon Martin, who according to him ‘looked suspicious’.  In the light of Martin appearing suspicious, George Zimmerman radioed in the situation, where subsequently, he was instructed by a fellow coworker not to follow Martin.  Zimmerman ignored instruction, and continued to pursue Martin, eventually attacking him and shooting Trayvon Martin dead.  Because Martin was black, it was assumed by Zimmerman that he was dangerous and pursuing him was necessary.  Zimmerman was eventually brought to trial for the fatal shooting of Martin and was  eventually acquitted on the basis of  the “Stand Your Ground Law”.  In short, the law permits one to protect themselves when in danger.  Presumably, Zimmerman was not in imminent danger, but rather, shot Martin based on the fact that he was black. (DuVernay, 2016). Policing was becoming more and more strict amongst minority communities.

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Inequality is a continuing issue in today’s society, and even more so with black men in the justice system. According to the US Bureau of Justice, black men in this country make up only  6.5% of the population, where the white man makes up 40%. However, the lifetime likelihood of imprisonment for white men is 1 in 17, where the black man is 1 in 3. These are astounding statistics that reflect a continued inequality in our justice system, and stem from the efforts made decades ago when Nixon declared a War on Drugs. There is no mistaking the fact that history does not happen by accident. White men are the products of the history our ancestors chose. African Americans, have become victims and products of history they more than likely did not choose (DuVernay, 2016). The historic rise of incarceration is a direct result of the War on Drugs, which mostly impacted minority communities, due to racial inequality, longer sentencing for minor crimes, and stricter policing in minority communities.

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Reference:

Sampson, R. J., & Loeffler, C. (2010). Punishment’s place: the local concentration of mass incarceration. Daedalus, 139(3), 20–31. http://www.jstor.org/stable/20749839

In-text Citation: (Sampson and Loeffler, 2010)

Summary: Sampson and Loeffler (2010) focused on the spatial concentration of incarceration, focusing on its geographic manifestations in Chicago. They hypothesized that mass incarceration follows a stable pattern over time, and can be predicted by key social characteristics. They assembled census data, crime rates, and court records into a common geographic referent, they explore rates of community level incarceration from 1990 to 2006. The results of this study show that disadvantaged communities are more likely to be highly incarcerated communities, which increases their likelihood of becoming even more disadvantaged in the future. In addition, if communities are disproportionately produce prisoners, they will disproportionately draw them back upon release. This implies that minorities that come from poorer, disadvantaged communities, the more likely they are to be incarcerated. This study suggests that minority communities were targeted during the rise of mass incarceration, based upon key social characteristics,

Annotated Bibliography 2

Reference:

Bobo, L. D., & Thompson, V. (2006). Unfair by design: The war on drugs, race, and the legitimacy of the criminal justice system. Social Research, 73(2), 445-472,736,0_3. Retrieved from https://login.ezproxy.stockton.edu/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/scholarly- journals/unfair-design-war-on-drugs-race-legitimacy/docview/209669497/se-2?accoun tid=29054

In-text Citation: (Bobo and Thompson, 2006)

Summary:  Bobo and Thompson (2006) analyze the promise of freedom, opportunity and equality of a truly fair and just society where citizens stand equal before the law — is in danger. They hypothesized that the rates of black incarceration are both politically visible and problematic. They argue that the Unite States has enacted policy changes that have created a historic rise in the use of incarceration for purposes of social control. They asses race and crime in public opinion through multiple sets of questions though the Race, Crime, and Public Opinion (RCPO) project. In the 2001 RCPO study they asked respondents about their perceptions of criminal justice bias in the courts and police. 89 percent of African American affirmed the idea that the criminal justice system is biased against blacks, as compared to 38 percent of whites. Fifty-six percent of whites, on the other hand, felt the criminal justice system "gives blacks fair treatment," compared to only 8 percent of blacks. This implies that African Americans see the injustice within the system, as they are often experiencing it, versus whites who do not experience bias within the criminal justice system.  This data shows both high general rates among blacks of perceived racial bias in the crime response complex and, more specifically, a perception of racial bias in the conduct of the so-called War on Drugs.

Annotated Bibliography 3

Reference:

Thompson, H. A. (2010). Why Mass Incarceration Matters: Rethinking Crisis, Decline, and Transformation in Postwar American History. The Journal of American History, 97(3),  703–734. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40959940

In-text Citation: (Thompson, 2010)

Summary: Thompson (2010) discusses why mass incarceration matters. She hypothesized that law enforcement not only disproportionately targeted cities in its new war on drugs but it also particularly priced the communities of color within them. A study done by the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse noted in 2000. The study found that white students use cocaine at seven times the rate of black students, use crack cocaine at eight times the rate of black students, and use heroin at seven times the rate of black students. In the 1980’s, African Americans ‘share’ of drug crimes jumped from 26.9 percent to 46 percent, and arrested black juveniles were 37 percent more likely to be transferred to adult courts, where they faced tougher outcomes. If convicted, African Americans of every age were more likely to get sentenced to prison than jail, with longer sentences. This implies that African Americans are more likely to be convicted at a harsher rate than whites, because of the racial injustice occurring. This study suggests that the lives of Americans had beens happen in fundamental ways by mass incarceration.

Annotated Bibliography 4

Reference:

Pettit, B., & Gutierrez, C. (2018). Mass Incarceration and Racial Inequality. American Journal of        Economics & Sociology, 77(3/4), 1153–1182. https://doi-org.ezproxy.stockton.edu/                 10.1111/ajes.12241

In-text Citation: (Pettit and Gutierrez, 2018)

Summary: Pettit and Gutierrez (2018) review racial and ethnic differences in exposure to the criminal justice system and its collective consequences. They hypothesized that engagement with the police and judicial system that does not involve spending time in jail or prison—from arrests to community‐based supervision—are disproportionately concentrated among racial and ethnic minority groups, though the extent of that disproportionality varies widely. Studies estimate that fully one‐quarter (25.3 percent) of young adults are arrested by age 23 and further show that nearly half (48.9 percent) of black men are arrested by the time they reach age 23, compared to 37.9 percent of white men, based upon self-reported arrest history data (excluding arrests for minor traffic violations) from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (1997 to 2008). In accordance with the researcher’s hypothesis, the results of this study show that incarceration is even more acutely concentrated among African American and Latino men than most other forms of criminal justice contact. This implies policing is disproportionately concentrated amongst people of color. This study suggests that the minority communities were amongst those targeted during the rise of mass incarceration.

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Corporate Author US Congress Address Washington, U.S. Department of Justice. “Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986.” Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 | Office of Justice Programs, 1986, https://www.ojp.gov/ncjrs/virtual-library/abstracts/anti-drug-abuse-act-1986.

DuVernay, Ava, director. 13th. Netflix, 7 Oct. 2016.

Gunja, Fatema. “Race & The War on Drugs.” American Civil Liberties Union, May 2003, https://www.aclu.org/other/race-war-drugs.

Ofer, Udi. “How the 1994 Crime Bill Fed the Mass Incarceration Crisis.” American Civil Liberties Union, American Civil Liberties Union, 4 June 2019, https://www.aclu.org/blog/smart-justice/mass-incarceration/how-1994-crime-bill-fed-mass-incarceration-crisis.

San Diego Attorney. “A Refresher on CA's Three Strikes Law (Part 1).” San Diego Criminal Defense Blog, 19 Dec. 2018, https://jdlaw.law/blog/californias-three-strikes-law-1/.

Scarlet Neath Jim Parsons, et al. “Fifty Years Ago Today, President Nixon Declared the War on Drugs.” Vera Institute of Justice, 18 May 2017, https://www.vera.org/blog/fifty-years-ago-today-president-nixon-declared-the-war-on-drugs.

U.S. Department of Justice. April1995, NCJ-153849 Correctional Populations the United ... 1995, https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/Digitization/153849NCJRS.pdf.