{"id":717,"date":"2016-02-22T12:42:03","date_gmt":"2016-02-22T17:42:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/feminem.org\/?p=717"},"modified":"2016-04-13T16:32:44","modified_gmt":"2016-04-13T21:32:44","slug":"mass-incarceration-part2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/feminem.org\/2016\/02\/22\/mass-incarceration-part2\/","title":{"rendered":"Mass Incarceration: An Emergency We Must Address- Part 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

Felony status imposes lifelong limits on a person\u2019s ability to vote and serve on juries, gain employment and education, and access public housing. It has also been associated with significant decreases in life expectancy.\u00a0 Mass incarceration is the result of intentional policy decisions over the past forty years that were motivated by race. In part one, we explored the history of mass incarceration came to be and how these policies have impacted those caught up in the prison system. In part two, we will examine why there are racial differences in mass incarceration and how we can manage a criminal justice system beyond jail or prison.<\/p>\n

Why are racial and ethnic minorities disproportionately impacted by mass incarceration?<\/em><\/p>\n

A wide range of policies from slavery to legislated housing discrimination (e.g. redlining) have limited community investment and upward mobility in communities of color. According to Ta Nehisi Coates, many of these policies have criminalized simply being black. For example, the historical Fugitive Slave Act criminalized seeking freedom and vagrancy laws criminalized being out of work in areas where no one would hire blacks. 1<\/sup> These \u201ccrimes\u201d and racist stereotypes of blacks as criminal or violent have led both black and white Americans to be biased and fearful toward African Americans. 1<\/sup> However, on a much more direct level, African Americans find themselves crossing paths with the criminal justice system more often than whites for a wide variety of reasons. Ultimately, however, they boil down to three main factors:<\/p>\n

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  1. Conscious or unconscious bias results in large differences in rates of being stopped by the police at traffic stops or under policies such as \u201cstop and frisk\u201d. In both situations, police have been allowed by the courts to stop citizens based on nothing more than a hunch or to search a home based on informants, even when they are known to be unreliable. In fact, between 2004 and 2009, officers found weapons in less than one percent of all \u201cstop and frisk\u201d encounters, and they were more likely to be recovered from whites. Despite this, blacks were more likely to be victims of force during these stops. 2<\/sup><\/li>\n
  2. Behaviors that are more likely to impact impoverished communities or communities of color are criminalized. For example, the penalty for possessing crack was one hundred times more severe than possessing a similar weight of cocaine. Similarly, cash-strapped cities (like Ferguson, MO) often use law enforcement for revenue generation, penalizing traffic violations, loud music, uncut grass, or wearing saggy pants. When citizens cannot pay these fines they often face jail time. 1,2<\/sup><\/li>\n
  3. Limited access to legal representation causes arrestees to accept plea bargains to avoid harsh mandatory sentences, often on charges that are trumped up and could not be defended in court. The Supreme Court upheld these harsh sentences, in one case upholding a sentence of forty years for possession of nine ounces of marijuana. Similarly, \u201cthree strikes\u201d policies are counted as individual charges rather than cases, so a person could go to prison for life for one criminal act. 2<\/sup><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    What are the alternatives to incarceration? <\/em><\/p>\n

    The impact of incarceration is profound, disproportionate, and expensive. Because this system is now so entrenched, it can be difficult to see how it could be any other way. However, there are many important alternatives to prison that are often cheaper and more effective at achieving the ultimate goals of improved community safety and offender rehabilitation. Some examples include:<\/p>\n