Dear Friend,
When it comes to issues plaguing Black and low-income communities, a White senator from the South is the last person we'd expect to go out on a limb and sound the alarm. Senator Jim Webb from Virginia just did exactly that when he boldly called out the over-imprisonment of Black folks and the serious problems with our prison system. Most importantly, he's demanding big changes.[1]
Now it's up to us to seize the moment and create the pressure necessary to achieve true reform.
I've joined ColorOfChange.org in publicly thanking Senator Webb. Our praise will show other politicians that when they take risks and step out on critical issues like prison reform, we will have their backs. It will also show that everyday people stand with Webb and are serious about this issue. Can you join me? It only takes a moment. And then please ask your friends and family to do the same:
http://www.colorofchange.org/webb/?id=1803-853516
In recent years, politicians have lacked the courage to create meaningful prison reform. They've been paralyzed by the fear of being branded as "soft on crime." They've been held hostage by prison guard unions and industry lobbies. And the communities most affected--Black and low-income communities--have had a hard time getting a seat at the table and making our voices heard.
Our country has a clear problem. With just 5% of the world's population, America holds nearly 25% of the world's reported prison population. Our prison population has quadrupled since 1984, and most of the increase comes from people being imprisoned for drug offenses--mostly minor and nonviolent.[2]
Despite the fact that there is no statistical difference in drug use between different racial groups, harsh drug laws have had a devastating, disproportionate effect on Black communities. While only 12% of the U.S. population is African-American, Black people make up 37% of those arrested on drug charges, 59% of those convicted, and 74% of all drug offenders sentenced to prison.[3]
It's surprising and encouraging that someone like Senator Webb is speaking out in this way. Webb is a White politician from Virginia, a Southern "law-and-order" state that has abolished parole and executed more people than any state besides Texas.[4] He has nothing to gain politically from this--it's an act of true conviction.
By eloquently making the case for reform and calling for a National Criminal Justice Commission, Webb has created a major opening to address these issues. And it comes at a time when there are increasing signs the country is ready for reform. New York's governor and state legislature just struck a deal to reform the state's "Rockefeller drug laws"--some of the harshest laws in the country, and a great example of the failed status quo.[5] A panel of federal judges has just told California it must reduce its prison population by a third to alleviate the torturous conditions stemming from overcrowding.[6] And at the same time that more people are recognizing the deep injustices in our system, the economic crisis is forcing elected officials at all levels of government to realize they can't afford to keep directing so many taxpayer dollars toward law enforcement, jails, and prisons.[7]
We need to make the most of this moment. Please join me in thanking Senator Jim Webb for his courageous stand and support his call for a meaningful commission. And when you do, please ask your friends and family to do the same.
http://www.colorofchange.org/webb/?id=1803-853516
Thanks!
References:
1. http://tinyurl.com/chxaup
2. http://www.parade.com/news/2009/03/why-we-must-fix-our-prisons.html
3. See reference 2
4. http://tinyurl.com/8mgyf2
5. http://tinyurl.com/da2xlw
6. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/10/us/10prison.html
7. http://tinyurl.com/c36ubb
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Comments: 15
We can see torture at Gitmo is wrong. We should see placing people in a prison where they are likely to be murdered, raped, beaten is torture too. I don't want to torture someone, and I don't want anyone tortured in my name. I do want people who are violent to be locked up. I want pedophiles to be locked up for life. But I don't want anyone hurt. Prison should be a time to have the chance to realize why we don't want to commit a particular act, and it wouldn't hurt anybody if people in prison were given education and emotional support, spiritual support, to help them see a new way of living and some self-respect. Then maybe the hardest to accomplish, a real chance at a decent job when they come out.
I also believe people in prison need to work. We have to work in real life. It just makes sense to work in prison.
If you were caught stealing- tires-batteries-shop lifting etc. When you went to court to face the judge, the judge would ask you a couple of questions.
1. If i let you go are you going to school- ans. NO
2.If i let you go are you going to a job- ans. NO
The judge would then say- young man before I tell you where I am going to send you, I want you to go over to the table where the Army- Navy- Air Force- Marine soldiers are sitting. Listen to what these men can offer you- if you like what they are offering than that is where I will send you-if not I will send you somewhere else.
Most of these young men in prison today would benefit enormously from this type of character building. My plan would not require any of these men or woman to go to war for 4 years unless they volunteer, after four year hitch they are free men and woman.
Men and Woman who would now have a skill, self-esteem, and strong individuals.
Michael as I said I can tell you of many young men who went into the service instead of a cell, and what great men and fathers they became.
I agree. Something has to be done. Our society is broken in many ways and this is the end result. Somehow we have to begin with our children and re instill a value system that will keep them from becoming law breakers to begin with.
I personally think we have abdicated our responsibility as parents and tried to turn our kids over to an amoral educational system that almost guarantees they will disregard laws and become victims of the broken penal system.
All aspects of our justice system need to be examined, and the parts and policies that are injust must be repaired or eliminated.
Did you remember to forward an email asking your friends to express their gratitude?
Crime was politicized at the national level and Justice vanished.
The Justice System is not static --it lives in one form or another throughout this country. The omnipotence of some who sit in judgment positions are in need of revision/replacement, as are the methods of operation in forms of ex parte agreements and plea bargains which occur within the process of preparing for court appearances.
The Expert witness, DNA, fingerprints, “Eye witness” extenuating circumstances, and a host of other legal tools used to mitigate the guilt of select defendants is illegal. If law were truly blind, the truth would also be valid regardless of whose lips the words originated. Women need not be defamed in courts in sexual assaults cases and men need not be without guilt because ‘he holds a job‘. Black crime would be on par with white crime and the courts would not be used for 21st century genocide of Black males.
There are too many issues to FIX in the Justice System for one man, any one man, and I have not even mentioned The Supreme Court and the lesser Courts of Appeal. They are all infected with the bias of the Human mind and, as for Judges, very little is done to investigate each and every decision, which every Judge makes. The checks and balances at that level are missing for definitive controls, which justify and validate every decision.
As long as Humans are making decisions, there either will be errors and the lives, lost emotionally or physically, are not worth a second look (especially for Blacks) every life is valuable. Yes, it will take more than four years to clean up all of the dirt and create a CLEAN society where Justice truly is blind. If we are fortunate, President Obama will serve a second term as will AG Eric Holder.