46 years ago, President Richard Nixon declared drug abuse to be “America’s public enemy number one,” and ignited decades of racist, harmful, and misguided policies– locking up millions of people in prison for decades for small drug offenses. The failed War on Drugs is our country’s most shameful attack on families and Black communities. The ACLU’s Campaign for Smart Justice is working across the country to combat racial disparities in the criminal justice system and reduce the U.S. jail and prison population. Simply put: the United States incarcerates too many people for too long and for the wrong reasons.

Police arrest more people for marijuana use than for all violent crimes — combined.

FINANCIAL INCENTIVE FOR PUTTING MORE PEOPLE IN PRISON

One of the reasons more people are in prison in the United States than another other country is because of the corporate profits it generates.  Who’s responsible? Mostly Republicans due to their hard line attitudes about crime & punishment, and their being beholden to Corporate and Special Interests which profits from mass incarceration.

Private prisons were established during the war on drug and tough on crimes era when the US was incarcerating more people than ever. Since their establishment, activists and politicians have debated whether they should exist to begin with. Some argued they didn’t save the government the projected 20% nor were they of better quality. But they continued to grow into a billion dollar industry. Today the industry is largely dominated by two companies, geo group and CoreCivic. But in 2019, the two companies have had a tough year. From Families Belong Together protests that lead to Wall Street divesting to Democratic candidates saying that they will abolish the industry, if elected. After three decades of arguing it is morally wrong to profit from incarceration and detention, activists say this could be the beginning of the end for these companies.

This is capitalism gone amuck.

US Prison Population: The Largest in the World

After 30 years of being Tough on Crime in the U.S., no other nation incarcerates more of its citizens than we do. The War on Drugs has been a horrible failure.

We have five percent of the world’s population, but 25 percent of its prisoners. The cost of housing all those inmates: $80 billion a year.

60 Minutes visited several German prisons and were amazed how laid back everybody seemed at each of them — prisoners and guards. Heidering Prison outside Berlin is as clean and bright as a Google campus. The prison is surrounded by fences, not walls, so inmates can see the outside world.

There is no death penalty.

Life inside prison mirrors life outside as much as possible. Germans call it “normalization.” It starts with small prison populations. Low-level offenders get fines or probation. Prison is reserved for the worst of the worst — murderers, rapists, career criminals.  Cells have doors, not bars. It’s for privacy. Inmates can decorate as they please.

In Germany, 75 percent of lifers are paroled after 20 years or less.

The United States Justice System should be Humane like Germany’s