There is a move by some in Congress to modify the sentencing rules for "non-violent" offenders. According to the proponents, the federal prisons are full of African American men who are only guilty of crimes like drug possession that have "no" victims. This is the result of both racism in the system and overly harsh laws requiring mandatory lengthy sentences. Because of this flood of black men stuck in prison for drug possession, the facilities are bursting at the seams. The problem, however, is that none of this is true.
First of all, the relative number of people in federal prison for drug possession is very small. Only about 1% of all federal prisoners are there because of a conviction for possession.
Second, a majority of even that small group are in prison because they got a plea deal from the prosecutor. In other words, although they were arrested for selling and distributing drugs, these people agreed to plead guilty to the charge of possession in order to avoid a harsher sentence as a drug dealer. Putting these supposedly non-violent people back on the streets would actually be returning drug dealers to the street. There are no clear statistics on the number of people who are actually in prison for possession when there was no plea deal, but the number is tiny. We also should not forget that some of the people in that small group were charged with possession because, although there was evidence that they had committed worse crimes, there was not enough to get a conviction. There is next to no one who is actually in federal prison for only possession.
Third, most of the people in federal prison for drug possession are not African American. About half of the prisoners are Hispanic. That is not surprising. The drug cartels are mostly Hispanic. Blacks comprise a larger share of these prisoners than they do of the entire population, but only by a small amount.
Finally, the idea that drug possession has no victim is wrong. I am not going to debate the dangers of drugs here. It is a lengthy discussion. Suffice to say, the idea is just wrong.
So we have a proposed law being pushed as an answer to non-existent institutional racism that will return a great many violent drug dealers to the streets. Garbage like this is one of the reasons why misinformation can be so dangerous.
First of all, the relative number of people in federal prison for drug possession is very small. Only about 1% of all federal prisoners are there because of a conviction for possession.
Second, a majority of even that small group are in prison because they got a plea deal from the prosecutor. In other words, although they were arrested for selling and distributing drugs, these people agreed to plead guilty to the charge of possession in order to avoid a harsher sentence as a drug dealer. Putting these supposedly non-violent people back on the streets would actually be returning drug dealers to the street. There are no clear statistics on the number of people who are actually in prison for possession when there was no plea deal, but the number is tiny. We also should not forget that some of the people in that small group were charged with possession because, although there was evidence that they had committed worse crimes, there was not enough to get a conviction. There is next to no one who is actually in federal prison for only possession.
Third, most of the people in federal prison for drug possession are not African American. About half of the prisoners are Hispanic. That is not surprising. The drug cartels are mostly Hispanic. Blacks comprise a larger share of these prisoners than they do of the entire population, but only by a small amount.
Finally, the idea that drug possession has no victim is wrong. I am not going to debate the dangers of drugs here. It is a lengthy discussion. Suffice to say, the idea is just wrong.
So we have a proposed law being pushed as an answer to non-existent institutional racism that will return a great many violent drug dealers to the streets. Garbage like this is one of the reasons why misinformation can be so dangerous.
No comments:
Post a Comment