5 These disparities are compounded by a myriad of collateral consequences that follow a conviction. 4 The prevalent but erroneous association between crack cocaine and low-income, inner-city neighborhoods has led to African Americans being four times more likely than whites to be picked up for drugs, despite similar rates of drug usage and sale. 3 The 100-to-1 disparity has translated into an enormous racial disparity. America’s prison population has quintupled, resulting in the United States having the highest incarcerated population in the world. Several decades on and these aggressive responses to drugs have arguably proven more damaging than the very substances they were meant to combat. 2 The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, which implemented the “three strikes” rule, was signed into law by a Democratic administration with wide support from both sides of the aisle. The 100-to-1 disparity in sentencing between crack and powder cocaine found in the 1986 Anti-Drug Abuse Act was drafted by Democratic Senator Joe Biden. In an interview given to Mother Jones in 1989, then-Minority Whip Newt Gingrich described his strategy for the crack cocaine problem - a strategy that called for an increase in prisons, police, prosecutors and law enforcement overall - as “very old-fashioned, because it works.” 1 In a rare example of bipartisanship, both sides of the aisle seemed eager to burnish their tough-on-crime bona fides. However, this content, and others like it, is available to everyone in order to educate the public on why criminal justice reform is a necessity. It’s normally restricted to just NACDL members. Access to The Champion archive is one of many exclusive member benefits.
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