Opinion - To End Mass Incarceration, Reform Punitive Systems
"Public safety hinges on fully funded services designed to support the most marginalized communities and solve the root causes of crime"
Excerpts from the following opinion piece titled "To End Mass Incarceration, Reform Our Excessively Punitive Systems" appeared on the website for The Hill, a newspaper and digital media company focusing on politics, policy, business and international relations. The writer is Nicole D. Porter, Senior Director of Advocacy at The Sentencing Project.
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More than 50 years have passed since the U.S. prison population surged, and advocacy organizers nationwide have since united to challenge mass incarceration. The U.S. will need continued leadership from those most affected by the harms of relying on incarceration despite the consequences.
Today, almost 2 million people — a disproportionate number of whom are Black — are incarcerated in our nation’s prisons and jails instead of living in their communities. The prison population has ballooned since the early 1970s underscoring the urgency to shift toward community-based public safety that is not defined by violent arrests, lengthy prison terms and collateral consequences that destroy families and communities.
Today, almost 2 million people — a disproportionate number of whom are Black — are incarcerated in our nation’s prisons and jails instead of living in their communities. The prison population has ballooned since the early 1970s underscoring the urgency to shift toward community-based public safety that is not defined by violent arrests, lengthy prison terms and collateral consequences that destroy families and communities.
As we contemplate the next 50 years, our collective goal should be transforming our punitive criminal legal system. Public safety hinges on fully funded services designed to support the most marginalized communities and solve the root causes of crime, not arrests or lengthy prison terms.
While the future remains uncertain, our commitment to reshaping the landscape of criminal justice is unwavering.
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You can read the full editorial "To End Mass Incarceration, Reform Our Excessively Punitive Systems" on The Hill's website.
