MASS INCARCERATION: The New Black Plague
This act brought about many policies and changes that still affect America today, namely mandatory minimum sentencing. While
The War on Drugs was introduced to the United States through President Nixon. Originally, it was used as criminalizing rhetoric to assuage the fears of the public, but it soon evolved into something much more direct under President Reagan.
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Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986
The War on Drugs was one of Reagan's main focuses during his presidency. After making promises to crack down on drugs during his campaign, Reagan made sure those promises were fulfilled through the passage of laws such as the Anti-Drug Abuse Act.
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"...the Nixon White House after that, had two enemies: the antiwar left and black people... We knew we couldn’t make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities...vilify them night after night on the evening news. Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did." - John Ehrlichman, one of Nixon's advisors
minimum sentencing had already been a part of the justice system before this time, it had previously been repealed. The Anti-Drug Abuse Act made it so that criminals in possession of five grams of crack cocaine served a minimum of five years in prison. This five year sentence was the same minimum sentence of criminals in possession of 500 grams of powder cocaine. With crack being cheaper than powder cocaine, it quickly spread to poorer communities and subsequently, black communities. Even though crack cocaine and powder cocaine are essentially the same drug, crack had a harsher sentencing. This was reinforced with the passing of the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988 which made possession of crack the only drug offence with a mandatory minimum sentence. While it had not been stated that these acts were made to devastate black families and communities, their direct effects on African Americans are too obvious to be ignored.
A.R. - After Reagan
The end of Reagan's presidency did not mean the end of the War on Drugs. His successor and former Vice President, George H. W.
Bush, continued to fight against drugs and pushed for harsher policing from the CIA and the United States military alike. It wasn't until President Bill Clinton that more destructive laws came into place with the passing of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act.
Truth in Sentencing
Under the Violent Crime Act, Truth in Sentencing laws were reintroduced to the justice system. These laws made criminals serve at least 85% of their sentence before they could be eligible for parole, ensuring that they "do their time". As an incentive to implement these laws, states were given a portion of a $4.85 billion budget.
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Three Strikes
The Violent Crime Act also introduced the Three Strikes policy which increased the sentence of repeat offenders. This policy was extremely effective as the chances of criminals recommitting a crime are extremely high. In fact, within five years of being released from prison, about 80% of felons are arrested again. Drug offenders, especially, are about 74% more likely to go back to prison. These policies often give incredibly harsh sentences to criminals with prior convictions. For example, a man who had previously gone to jail for a crime like petty theft and had committed another crime to the same extent, could potentially go to prison for 50 years.