NEW PITTSBURGH COURIER
How to reform the criminal justice system (NNPA)—There is no question that the criminal justice system is broken. President Obama made that clear recently in his address to the annual convention of the NAACP in Philadelphia. “The United States is home to 5 percent of the world’s population, but 25 percent of the world’s prisoners,” he said. “Think about that. Our incarceration rate is four times higher than China’s. We keep more people behind bars than the top 35 European countries combined. “And it hasn’t always been the case—this huge explosion in incarceration rates. In 1980, there were 500,000 people behind bars in America— half a million people in 1980… Today there are 2.2 million. It has quadrupled since 1980. Our prison population has doubled in the last two decades alone.” On his visit to El Reno Federal Correctional Institution in Oklahoma, Obama said: “A primary driver of this mass incarceration phenomenon is our drug laws—our mandatory minimum sentencing around drug laws. And we have to consider whether this is the smartest way for us to both control crime and rehabilitate individuals.” He added, “…When we’re looking at nonviolent offenders, most of them growing up in environments in which the drug traffic is common, where many of their family members may have been involved in the drug trade, we have to reconsider whether 20-year, 30-year, life sentences for nonviolent crimes is the best way for us to solve these problems.” Of the 2.2 million people behind bars in 2012, nearly 1.5 million were in state and federal prisons and 744,500 were in local jails. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, 38 percent of federal and state prisoners were Black, 35 percent were White and 21 percent were Latino.
George E. Curry
Commentary How do we reform the criminal justice system? The Sentencing Project, a Washington-based organization that works for sentencing reform, offering alternatives to incarceration and ending racial disparities, said a number of things can be done to end or reduce mass incarceration. In its publication titled, “Ending Mass Incarceration: Social Interventions that Work,” the Sentencing Project stated. “Preschool education for at-risk three and four year olds is also an effective prevention strategy…Head Start and other preschool programs produce both short-term and long-term benefits. This includes reduced engagement with the criminal justice system through the age of 27, along with positive school outcomes and reduced need for social services.” On juvenile justice, the report said, “Research shows that programs prioritizing family interactions are the most successful, probably because they focus on providing skills to the adults who are in the best position to impact the child’s behavior.” The community also has a vital role to play. “Studies have shown that organizational participation and informal social control mechanisms can address criminal violence at the neighborhood level,” the report said. “Community participation can help in supervising and monitoring teenage peer groups through social networks that facilitate adult and youth interaction.” In a July 14 letter to Rep. Jason Chaffetz, chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, the ranking member of the committee, a coalition of 60 organizations—including the Sentencing Project, Blacks in Law Enforcement of America, Families Against Mandatory Minimums, the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, the National Council of Churches, the NAACP, and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers— called for broad-based criminal justice reform. “In its 2011 report to Congress, the U.S. Sentencing Commission found that mandatory minimum sentences disproportionately impact communities of color and that African Americans received relief from mandatory minimum sentences least often, compared with Whites and Hispanics,” the letter noted. The organizations urged Congress to support reform that: Changes current federal law that allows a person with two prior felony convictions to have a 10-year mandatory minimum sentence converted to a mandatory life sentence; Allows past criminal records to be sealed and removes the lifetime ban on persons convicted of drug felonies to receive federal benefits such as welfare and food stamps; Makes sentencing reductions passed in 2010 retroactive; Expands the Bureau of Prisons’ Compassionate Release Program and Expands time credited for good behavior. “We note the importance of supporting initiatives that aim to assist in effective recidivism reduction and re-entry programming as well as provide opportunities for early release for individuals in federal prison,” the groups said. “Ninety-five percent of incarcerated individuals will return to our communities, and in the interest of public safety, we must ensure that they are on a path for successful reintegration back into society while in prison and upon their release. It is a smart investment to implement expanded reentry programming, given that evidence-based programs, job-training, and education can reduce recidivism and lead to better outcomes for individuals returning to their families and neighborhoods.” (George E. Curry, former editor-in-chief of Emerge magazine, is editor-in-chief of the NNPA) and BlackPressUSA.com. He can be reached through his Web site, www.georgecurry.com.)
FORUM
Because you too are somebody On July 16, I and reflect upon was in attendance Louis ‘Hop’ Kendrick the absence of acat a worthwhile tivities. The only affair to celebrate business activithe release of the ties were two Inaugural Edition bars. I reminisced of Who’s Who in about the old Black Pittsburgh. Wylie Avenue and There were about the huge number 300 people in atof Black-owned tendance. There businesses. Those were a number of people of my genera- Black men and women, who never heard tion whom I knew, but there were more the word entrepreneur, possessed the of the current generation with whom I foresight and courage that qualified was not familiar. them as true Who’s Who. They were furOver the course of my life I have been riers, photographers, barbershop and fortunate to receive a number of awards beauty salon owners. There were tavand on every occasion I would ask the erns, drug stores, restaurants, fish and same question, “Why is not this person Bar B Q, gambling joints, jewelry stores, or that person not being recognized?” pawn shops, grocery stores, shoe repair, The answer would generally be, “Hop, jitneys, cab company, gas stations, every deserving person can’t be high- garages and across Allegheny County lighted.” Then I would with tongue in there were 200 Black men who owned cheek ask why not? What criteria are es- their own trucks. tablished to define Who is Who? Is it Third, but not last when do we give mandatory have a high school diploma, recognition to those parents, parent, GED, BA, MA, PhD? Is it a basic re- grandparents, extended families who quirement that you have a position in had limited schooling, but realized the the corporate system or a title in the po- importance of the next generation oblitical structure? Is there a requirement taining higher education and sacrificed that those we honor publically have to ensure it would become a reality. A made a difference in the lives of others perfect example is the late Mr. Terry. He outside their immediate families? In my would sometimes work three jobs and estimation there must be at least 1000 one was in Mt. Lebanon and it would to 1500 people who have been recog- cost a dime to ride round trip. He would nized by various organizations as out- generally walk one way and save a standing Black men and women. My nickel to give his wife to put away. Anmajor concerns are two fold, first if there other example is Mrs. Williamson who are this many that have earned public would go to the Good Will or some other recognition then I am compelled to ask agency and acquire a super sized dress the question, why are Blacks in Pitts- and then cut it in a manner so she could burgh in such terrible condition? sew three smaller dresses for her Last Saturday evening I did something daughters. These are just some examI had not done for a long period of time, ples of everyday people that qualify as and that was to drive through the Hill Who’s Who. District by way of Wylie Avenue. I This week’s column is not intended to started at Roberts Street and by the minimize the importance of those who time I got to Devilliers Street I had have been fortunate to receive public passed two churches and one mosque recognition, but to pay tribute to those and the now Blakey Building, which in who also deserve credit for a job well my day was the Kay Boys Club. They done, because you too are somebody. (Louis “Hop” Kendrick is a weekly contributor were all dark. At the end of Wylie on Herron Avenue I was compelled to park to the Forum page.)
To Tell The Truth
Taming the public temper Hawthorne ated with that wrote: The public J. Pharoah Doss drug trade led to is despotic in its Black leaders betemper. (Meancoming despotic ing: When in their temper morally outraged and in 1986 the the public will majority of the support extreme Congressional measure for an Black Caucus instant remedy of supported federal a social ill.) legislation that Recently President Barack Obama enacted extreme mandatory minimum commuted the sentences of 46 non-vio- sentencing laws. Charles Rangel a lent drug offenders. Then at the NAACP prominent member of the Black Caucus annual convention he said, “Long wanted harsher penalties. mandatory minimum sentences that are In 1989 Ebony published another artiin place should be reduced—or dis- cle. It featured Charles Rangel. The carded entirely.” magazine saluted Rangel as “The Front“Low-level drug dealers,” Obama con- line General in the War on Drugs.” tinued, “Owe a debt to society, but not a Rangel accused President George H. W. life sentence or a 20 years prison term.” Bush of not doing enough to stop drugs. Historian Michelle Alexander has re- Rangel said, “We need outrage. I don’t ferred to long mandatory minimums as know what is behind the lackadaisical “The New Jim Crow” and stated, “The attitudes toward drugs, but I do know drug war was motivated by racial poli- that the American people have made it tics…it was launched as a way of trying abundantly clear: They are outraged by to appeal to poor and working class the indifference of the US government White voters, as a way to say, “We’re to this problem.” going to get tough on them, put them Obama doesn’t want to be lackadaisiback in their place.” cal and urged congress to pass a senIs this true? Black Americans have a tencing reform bill by the end of the proud tradition of protesting unjust year. But reducing sentencing only laws. remedies the long term consequences of When was the march on Washington congressional extremities. (Taming the against the drug war? temper tantrum caused by a previous Alexander’s remark is revisionist his- temper tantrum.) The underlining issue tory only accepted in the United States is cutting cost. Today, there are over 1.5 of Amnesia, because the moral outrage million inmates in federal and state of the Black community initiated these prisons costing $80 billion a year. policies not White efforts to put Blacks But if saving money is the priority in their place. what happened to the initial moral outThe Black community declared war on rage? America has grown tolerant of drugs before the Reagan administra- drugs. And if moral outrage has turned tion. into moral relativity then congressional In 1970 Ebony magazine published an leaders need to discuss legalization not article titled, “Blacks Declare War on reform. dope.” It stated that most community Legalization is not establishing a dangroups agree that the first offensive gerous precedent. Drugs were legal bemust be against Black pushers and dis- fore the 1914 Harrison act. Then in 1919 tributors. The previous year 224 New alcohol prohibition was enacted, which York teen-agers died from heroin over- led to the rise of mobsters like Al doses or drug-related infections. Capone, but Prohibition was eventual In 1973 New York Governor Nelson repealed, which sent the Capone types Rockefeller announced laws that set the searching for another illegal substance standard for tough sentences for low- that had the same demand as alcohol. level non-violent drug offenders. RockeWhen Ronald Reagan was asked about feller was joined at the podium by the war on poverty he said, “We fought a prominent Black leaders of New York war and Poverty won.” When Obama is City. The leader of the Harlem based asked if there is still a war on drugs I People’s Civic and Welfare Association wonder if he’d say, “No, drugs won.” Or said, “Our young people are dying, “Yes, but the Congressional Black Cauthey’re being destroyed, and unless you cus lost.” (J. Pharoah Doss is a contributor to the New back this bill New York is doomed.” In the 1980’s crack-cocaine hit Ameri- Pittsburgh Courier. He blogs at jpharoahcan inner cities, and the violence associ- doss@blogspot.com)
Commentary
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JULY 22-28, 2015
A7
Benjamin F. Chavis Jr.
Commentary
Obama calls for criminal justice reform (NNPA)—Whenever the president of the United States speaks to a national convention of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, millions of people pay attention. As a former executive director and CEO of the NAACP, I listened very carefully last week to President Barack Obama’s historic keynote address to the organization’s 106th annual convention in Philadelphia. There was a noticeable deliberate “freedom of expression” style and substance in President Obama’s speech to the NAACP. He was confident, candid and clear. Obama was unrestrained, passionate and focused. In other words, the president went straight to his main subject matter: The urgency and mandate today for criminal justice reform in the United States. President Obama stated, “But today, I want to focus on one aspect of American life that remains particularly skewed by race and by wealth, a source of inequity that has ripple effects on families and on communities and ultimately on our nation—and that is our criminal justice system.” Obama’s remarks were timely and welcomed by millions of families that have been devastated as a result of the injustice of the current court and prison system. It was full of analysis and statistics that went beyond typical political rhetoric. He cited the following facts to stress that now was the time for bipartisan corrective action by all levels of government: •The population of the U.S. has only 5 percent of the world’s population, but holds 25 percent of the world’s prisoners; •In 1980, there were 500,000 people in prison in the U.S., but today there are 2.2 million, a disproportionate number of them African American and Latino; •The U.S. spends $80 billion per year on keeping people in prison, about the same amount of money it would take to make tuition free at all public universities and colleges across the nation; •One third of the entire budget of the U.S. Justice Department is spent on incarceration; •While African Americans and Latino Americans combined make up about 30 percent of the U.S. population, we make up 60 percent of the prison inmates in the U.S.; •One in every 35 African American men is imprisoned, compared to one in every 88 Latino men as compared and one in every 214 White men; and •Research studies have confirmed that African Americans are more likely to stopped by the police, frisked, questioned, charged and arrested than any other racial group in the U.S.’s We all should be willing to join and support the emerging criminal justice reform movement in America. Hopefully, President Obama’s address to the NAACP will stimulate the passage of bipartisan legislation that will stop racial profiling and other legislative measures that will help to dramatically reduce the prison population in the United States. In the absence of real reform, the issues surrounding mass incarceration will not be adequately resolved President Obama made reference to the fact that on reaching the ultimate goal of criminal justice reform, there are today converging interests between the NAACP and the politically conservative Koch brothers, as well as between the ACLU and Americans for Tax Reform and among other divergent groups who have not worked together on social justice issues in the past. That is a good sign of what might be possible going forward. Frederick Douglass said it best, “If there is no struggle, there is no progress.” But the struggle to reform the criminal justice system must move beyond just a momentary national news cycle event response to whenever President Obama makes an outstanding speech. I wish social change was that easy to achieve. It is not. The work has begun, but we still have a lot of hard work and coalition building to do to make real reform happen. I believe we in the African American community has to take more responsibility to end mass incarceration and to challenge all the inequities of our society. Ending poverty and injustice, first and foremost, is our demand and it also has to be our responsible leadership to keep pushing forward. The government has its role, but we should not solely rely on the government. I believe in self-development and self-improvement. Our struggle for freedom, justice, equality and empowerment must continue with renewed energy and determination. (Benjamin F. Chavis Jr. is the president and CEO of the NNPA.)