Wassup blog buddies, welcome to my first civic issues blog!
For this blog, I’ve decided to focus on the topic of the American Criminal Justice system. It’s something I’m very passionate about and I hope to learn more through these blog posts.
This first post will include an excerpt from an essay I wrote on mass incarceration last semester because it captures a lot of the topics that I want to expand upon. After that, I’ll talk about where I want to go from there in terms of research.
Here’s the excerpt:
What makes a free society? Is it one that grants privileges to its preferred citizens, pushing the rest to the margins? Is it one that punishes those marginalized people more frequently than those it prefers? Can a nation that puts its citizens with the greatest needs behind bars be deemed as the “Land of the Free?” These are all questions that we should ask of the United States and its Criminal Justice System. The shadow of American mass-incarceration has loomed over many marginalized individuals, families, and communities since the 1970s. At the epicenter of this evolving issue is the war on drugs—a political crusade that, over decades, has become intricately intertwined with the criminalization of African Americans and other minority groups. The stark reality is that, despite making up only a fraction of the U.S. population, African Americans are disproportionately ensnared in the tendrils of the system. This exploration of the intersections of race, policy, and justice will hopefully serve to foster understanding of the history of mass-incarceration, where it is now, and how to change its future trajectory for the betterment of our nation.
The United States of America has the highest incarceration rate in the world. While it has only 5 percent of the global population, it accounts for 25 percent of the world’s prisoners (American Psychological Association 2014). Including jails and other correctional programs, there were over 5.5 million people (about twice the population of Arkansas) under the supervision of adult correctional systems in the United States by the end of 2020 (Bureau of Justice Statistics 2022). This wasn’t always the case, however. While it is hard to find exact data on who had the highest global incarceration rate in the early 20th century, it’s true that countries such as the Soviet Union, South Africa, and Cuba all had higher rates of imprisonment than the U.S. before significant changes in our criminal justice policy in the latter part of the decade.
From here, I move to an analysis of the effect that the War on Drugs had on the surge of mass incarceration, track the progress we’ve made since then, and explore the potential policy changes that would solve the issue. I conclude with the point that, while things have gotten a lot better since the 70’s-2000’s, there are still a lot of changes to be made.
As this blog moves forward, I want to explore more about the statistical discrepancies in incarceration among minority groups, the current state of policing strategies and how they could be reimagined to better serve communities, and the socioeconomic effects of being in an over-incarcerated demographic.
Overall, this blog will examine how our corrupt system can change to be more just. It’s the Land of the Free after all, right?
Links for the sources in the essay excerpt: https://www.apa.org/monitor/2014/10/incarceration https://bjs.ojp.gov/content/pub/pdf/cpus20st.pdf
Thanks for reading, and stay curious!
~Asim
The statistic that the US has 5% of the world population but 25% of the world’s prisoners is mind boggling and eye opening. I always hear about other country’s prison systems being more focuses on rehabilitation rather than punishment and maybe we should start shifting more towards rehabilitation. Anyways, I’m excited to see what else you have in store for this blog.
This is so well written! You made something that I have 0 knowledge on understandable and easy to read. I’m excited to see what you write about next and to get to read more of your writing style!
I find the issue of American mass incarceration a fascinating topic. I knew about most of these statistics you presented, but they never fail to surprise me. The issue of mass incarceration has a rich history; 500 words honestly isn’t enough to explain the extent to how Reagan’s presidency, the crack epidemic, and the War on Drugs affected prisons and African Americans. I’m looking forward to you next posts!