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Modern Roots of the Issue Mass Incarceration Modern Roots of the Issue

First Phase of Mass Incarceration Growth 1970-1985 Nixon declares War on Drugs (1971) “Public Enemy Number One” Speech Used to target “hippies” and communities of color Congress begins to lengthen sentences Incarceration rates begin to grow Reagan signs Comprehensive Crime Control Act (1984) Ends federal parole Increased penalties for marijuana related crimes Allows for death penalty Government allows for the privatization of prisons

Second Phase of Mass Incarceration Growth 1985-1992 Congress Signs Anti Drug Abuse Act (1986) Creates Mandatory Minimum Sentencing Crack vs. Cocaine disparity emerges 100:1 Used to target communities of color However, all races use drugs at a similar rate Drug Abuse Resistance Education (1983)

Third Phase of Mass Incarceration Growth 1993- Today “3 Strikes Laws” begin to emerge in some states Later adopted by Federal Government Mandatory life sentence for committing three felonies Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act (1994) Gives massive increase in funding to prisons Incentives states to increase prison population

Attempts to Fight Back LA Riots (1992) Legal Organizations Response to not guilty verdict of police involved in Rodney King beating Rioters protesting against racial discrimination and police brutality Legal Organizations NAACP, CCR, & ACLU, amongst others Grassroots campaigns led by families of the incarcerated Want better conditions for prisoners and shorter sentencing

Hurdles Faced Conservative Presidents in office Maintain tough on crime stance Increased spending on police More police patrolling at any given time Many organizations lobby to create laws that keep people in prisons Privatized Prisons, Prison Guard Unions, ALEC, Police Unions Hard to repeal laws Takes a lot of time and money US holds 5% world population but 25% world’s prison population If we release a lot of prisoners, how do we rehabilitate them?

Public Enemy Number One Speech 1. What do you think Nixon means by waging an “all-out offensive?” 2. Who is Nixon explicitly blaming for the increase in drug abuse? Who is he implicitly blaming? 3. Why do you think Nixon uses such vague language when describing the War on Drugs? 4. How would this kind of speech affect the African American community? 5. In what ways do these attitudes still exist today?