The United States has seen a 500 percent increase in the number of inmates in federal custody over the last 30 years, in large part due to the increasing number and length of certain federal mandatory sentences, which force a judge to impose a one-size-fits-all sentence without taking into account the details of an individual case. Furthermore, as the prison population has increased so has the racial disparity among prisoners. More than 60% of the people in prison are now racial and ethnic minorities. For African American males in their thirties, 1 in every 10 is in prison or jail on any given day. Two-thirds of all persons in prison for drug offenses are people of color, and approximately half of all Americans incarcerated today are for non-violent offenses. The results of these policies include the ruination of lives, the decimation of communities, and a deep distrust of the criminal justice system.
To address this problem and these disparities, Senators Durbin (IL), Lee (UT) and Leahy (VT) have introduced S. 1410, the Smarter Sentencing Act, which is intended to give judges more discretion and allows the criminal justice system to focus its efforts and resources on major, violent offenders.
For more information on the problem and on what this NAACP-supported bill does, please see the attached Action Alert
