Introduction
Incarceration is the state whereby an individual has been imprisoned or confined in a prison (ACLU, 2008, p. 1). In the United States, incarceration is one of the many major forms of rehabilitation, punishment when an individual commits an offense or a felony. Bibas (2015, p.15) pointed out that the per capita rate of incarceration of United States is second highest globally with the leading country being Seychelles. Regarded as the land of the free, United States has earned another distinction as the world’s leading jailer. According to ACLU (2008, p. 3), United States represents 5% of the global population and at present, holds 25% of the world’s inmates. The United States had 216,900 people behind bars in federal prisons, 744,500 in local facilities and 1,267,000 in state jails. The increased mass incarceration rates in the United States can be attributed to the 1980s and 1990s politics of “tough on crime,” racism, the draconian war on drugs, and the privatization of prisons (ACLU, 2008, p.3).
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Liberal lawyers and criminologists have long charged and blamed the boom in prisons on ever-extended, punitive verdicts coupled by racism especially for crimes of drugs. The term “mass imprisonment” or “mass incarceration” was coined by criminologists few decades ago and they blamed this phenomenon on structural racism especially on the war on drugs. In her book, Alexander (2010, p.77) condemns the mass incarceration as a strikingly well-disguised and comprehensive system of social control that is racialized that operates in a similar way to Jim Crow. The ex-prisoners, just like victims of Jim Crows, are barred from elective processes, public benefits, education, housing, jobs, juries and are a stigmatized underclass. As many argue, “this phenomenon is not just a symptom of poor choices or poverty, but rather an evidence of a new working system of racial caste.” She further elaborated that the system is just the most recent expression of the continuing white’s racist’s scheme of subjugating black people, giving an example of Nicaraguan contras support by CIA, who provided cocaine drugs in the localities of blacks in the United States (Alexander, 2010, p. 82).
The liberals blame the war on drugs and racism for the long sentences given in particular for the nonviolent drug crimes. The speech by President Obama in 2015, July to the NAACP, he stated that the main reason the Americans prison population is very high is because of the past decades, United States has sentenced more drug criminals who are nonviolent than ever before (Bibas, 2015, p. 19). In his speech, President Obama suggested that the war on drugs is just a continuation of “united states long history of criminal justice system inequity,” which has harmed minorities disproportionately. Bibas (2015, p. 20) pointed out that President Obama blamed mandatory sentencing of drug offenders as the primary driver of the phenomenon of mass incarceration.
In less than three decades, the penal population of United States has exploded to more than 2 million from 300000 (Bibas, 2015, p. 23), with health to ensure the safety of prescribed drugs. This paper discuss the recall of tetrazepam drug convictions playing the significant role. According to Alexander (2010, p. 97), the war on income taxes and personal revenues. However, as much as the healthcare system in Canada is social and universal, the plan does not cater for drugs was driven apparently by racial appeals that were coded, whereby the whites who were elites galvanized the whites who are poor to vote for the Republican by using drug addicts who were blacks as scapegoats. She insisted that the fault did not lie with violence or criminals. “Prison boom is not as a result of violent crime…the uncomfortable reality is because of convictions for drug offenses, but not violent crimes,” and minorities are convicted unreasonably of drug-related crimes.
Is law enforcement a white supremacy tool for oppressing the blacks? As many black scholars who are prominent have emphasized, blacks who abide by the laws often want better and more law enforcement. Kennedy (1997, p.113) observed that black Americans have suffered more from under protection or unprotected by law enforcement authorities than from mistreatment as defendants or suspects. However, mistreatments as suspects or defendants often get more attention. Kennedy (1997, p. 117) further pointed out that most crimes are intra-racial, so the black victims disproportionately suffer at the black criminals’ hands. The residents of the minority neighborhoods often want law of drug enforcement to be tougher to protect their property and for their safety, and many also fear becoming victims of crime.
In response to the understandable fears of their constituents, the black Democrats have played significant roles in toughening the drug laws of United States. For instance, the black activists in Harlem, New York such as the “The Amsterdam News” a leading black newspaper and the NAACP Citizens Mobilization against Crime in the 1970s advocated for what later was known as the Rockefeller drug laws, with their strict compulsory minimum sentences. Similarly, the liberal black Democrats at the federal level representing black neighborhoods in New York City were in support of the tougher penalties on cracking cocaine.
Privatization of the prisons also played a significant role in the mass incarceration in the United States. Under the reign of Reagan in the 1980s, the increase in the rate of incarceration saw the emergence of privatizing of prisons for profit (ACLU, 2008, p.6). These privatized prisons could face bankruptcy with no steady inflow of convicts. Alexander (2010, p. 94) pointed out that GEO group and Corrections Corporation of America, two major corporations that ran prisons invested heavily in lobbying state and federal governments. Moreover, these companies have significantly contributed to the American Legislative Exchange Council that seek expansion of the prisons privation and also lobbied for policies that would increase incarceration. Similarly. The human behavior. In her quote, “…the mind shapes itself to the body, and, roaming round its gilt cage, only seeks to adorn its prison companies according to Kennedy (1997, p. 132) signed contracts with the states that guaranteed them that at least 90% of the privatized prison beds be filled. However, if the agreed quotas were not met, the state was to pay the privatized person companies for the beds not occupied. Therefore, the prison companies used the profits they got for expansion and to lay more pressure on the lawmakers incarcerate a certain number of individuals (ACLU, 2008, p. 5).
Conclusion
The criminal justice in the United States has drifted away from its morals. The essay discussed the issue of mass incarceration in the United States. From the analysis of the essay, the essay concurred with the thesis that The increased mass incarceration rates in United States can be attributed to The 1980s and 1990s politics of “tough on crime,” racism, the draconian war on drugs, and the privatization of prisons. Over the past four decades, the prisons population in united has quadrupled in number. The on ever-longer, punitive sentences coupled with racism especially for drug crimes has been blamed by criminologists as the cause of mass incarceration. Similarly, the war on drugs and racism for the long sentences given in particular for the nonviolent drug crimes has also contributed to mass incarceration. The black neighborhoods and the black democrats have also played a significant role in ensuring laws are enacted to ensure their safety and protection of their properties against criminals. Lastly, privatization of the prisons saw the prison companies lobbying for increased incarceration for increased profits.
References
ACLU,. (2008). Mass Incarceration. American Civil Liberties Union. Retrieved 13 January 2016, from https://www.aclu.org/issues/mass-incarceration
Alexander, M. (2010). The new Jim Crow: Mass incarceration in the age of colorblindness.
Bibas, S. (2015). The Truth about Mass Incarceration. National Review Online. Retrieved 13 January 2016, from http://www.nationalreview.com/article/424059/truth-about-mass-incarceration-stephanos-bibas
Kennedy, R. (1997). Race, crime, and the law. New York: Pantheon Books.

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