Day 34: Support equal justice: advocate for criminal justice reform

The United States has 5% of the world’s population, but incarcerates a staggering 25% of the world’s prisoners. Mass incarceration is hurting thousands of communities, especially communities of color. For this reason criminal justice reform is a racial justice issue.

Mass incarceration is the systemic over-imprisonment of communities, especially communities of color. The worst element of mass incarceration is the overcriminalization of communities through excessive mandatory minimum sentences, in particular for those involving drug offenses. This means that if you are stopped and arrested for a drug offense, you may go to trial. At trial the prosecutor will likely ask for a mandatory minimum sentence, meaning you will have to go to prison for no less than x-number of years. Sometimes these prison sentences are lengthy or stacked and can result in decades-long sentences.

Last year, Congress almost passed vital reforms that could have helped thousands, but they didn't reach the House and Senate floors. Today, we have the power to urge our representatives to persist with those reforms this year! 

Use this simple 'click and send' template to contact your reps HERE. 

For more background on this issue, check out this powerful video from the Equal Justice Initiative:
http://eji.org/videos/slavery-to-mass-incarceration ​