Legalize Marijuana: Black prison population would drop, save money.
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If law enforcement focuses more on high-level crimes such as murders, rapes and assaults rather than low-level crimes such as marijuana use, the disproportionate number of people of color incarcerated would drop exponentially. In 2010, marijuana possession was almost 50% of all drug arrests. (Washington Post) In 2007, almost 235,000 Blacks were incarcerated for marijuana possession. (Precinct Reporter) Legalizing marijuana would reduce (to a great extent) the Black prison population.
The Criminal Justice System is focusing too much time and money on arresting people, specifically Blacks, for low-level crimes. Enforcing marijuana laws cost about $3.6 (ACLU) billion annually, yet these laws fail to diminish the use of marijuana, thus are wasteful.
The Criminal Justice System is focusing too much time and money on arresting people, specifically Blacks, for low-level crimes. Enforcing marijuana laws cost about $3.6 (ACLU) billion annually, yet these laws fail to diminish the use of marijuana, thus are wasteful.
Lower reliance on Incarceration: ~2.3 million incarcerated in the United States each year, and by relying less on incarceration tremendous amounts of money are saved.
The United States has the highest incarceration rate of any country in the world. With a total of approximately 2.3 million people incarcerated each year, with almost 50% of these people Black. The judicial system is relying too much on incarceration for Blacks rather than alternatives to jail such as rehab. Since many of all persons incarcerated are Black, with less reliance on incarceration and more reliance on rehab, probation, etc, the number of Black people arrested and in prison would decrease significantly. This way, this individual is actually helped, and it also saves families the burden of a family member spending time in prison.
As of right now jails are not preventing crimes as intended, considering two-thirds of people released will re-offend. The more people incarcerated, the more money needs to be poured into jails. Today, around $70 billion is spent on incarcerations a year, approximately 35% of the total money ($200 billion) that is spent annually on public safety a year. (ACLU) With less reliance on jails, a great deal of money is saved, and less Blacks are incarcerated. Rather they can be put in rehabilitation for drug related offenses, probation for lower-level offenses, etc. Attorney General Eric Holder on "The over reliance on incarceration is not just financially unsustainable," Mr. Holder said. "It comes with human and moral costs that are impossible to calculate."
As of right now jails are not preventing crimes as intended, considering two-thirds of people released will re-offend. The more people incarcerated, the more money needs to be poured into jails. Today, around $70 billion is spent on incarcerations a year, approximately 35% of the total money ($200 billion) that is spent annually on public safety a year. (ACLU) With less reliance on jails, a great deal of money is saved, and less Blacks are incarcerated. Rather they can be put in rehabilitation for drug related offenses, probation for lower-level offenses, etc. Attorney General Eric Holder on "The over reliance on incarceration is not just financially unsustainable," Mr. Holder said. "It comes with human and moral costs that are impossible to calculate."
Addressing Disproportionate Arrest Rates: Sign a petition or create one.
Addressing the issue of disproportionate arrest rates can be as simple as signing or creating a petition. A woman in Wisconsin petitioned President Obama to enact laws that reduce the racial disparities in both the arrest rates and also the achievement gap. Petitions are fairly simple to make and with enough signatures can really make a difference.