Only by seeking equitable sentences for non-violent offenses can the justice system address the scourge of mass incarceration, the PICO National Network said in response to Attorney General Eric Holder and the Obama Administration’s new rules requiring federal prosecutors to review and in certain cases, refile, charges against low-level drug charge offenders. In response to the initiative designed to keep those charged with less serious offenses out of long-term prison sentences, the Rev. Michael McBride, director of the PICO National Network’s Lifelines to Healing campaign, which organizes local communities to stop neighborhood violence and promotes federal and state policies to end mass incarceration, today applauded the court’s decision.
On behalf of PICO, the largest national network of faith-based community organizations, McBride released the following statement:
By reforming the way drug charges are reviewed and sentences are issued, Attorney General Holder and the Obama Administration clearly understand that in order to reduce the unnecessary and counter-productive levels of mass incarceration that plague our nation, we must seek equitable punishments for convictions. It is wrong and ultimately fruitless to lock away low-level, non-violent offenders for years on end without access to educational and vocational tools, or to family and community networks capable of providing essential support to help them reintegrate into society.
As clergy, we believe in redemption. It is our responsibility to lift up the dignity of all people through the restoration of rights and the ending of unjust sentencing and racial profiling that disproportionately target young black men. We work together to end the school-to-prison pipeline through sentencing reforms and much needed changes in the justice system.
On behalf of the hundreds of religious organizations and clergy across the country in the PICO National Network, I call on state attorneys general to follow Holder’s lead. They too have a decisive role to play in impacting the future of individuals’ lives and ensuring that the punishment fits the crime. When individuals are convicted of crimes, we must show them that we have not lost hope in them, and that we will not forget about them.
PICO National Network is the largest grassroots, faith-based organizing network in the United States. PICO works with more than 1,200 religious congregations through 60 local federations and state networks. More information at www.piconetwork.org.
