The US is home to nearly one out of every four prisoners in the world. There are 2.1 million prisoners in the US, including 1.2 millionpeople incarcerated in state prisons. Nearly 180,000 are behind federal prison bars, and 704,500 are in local jails. The number of US prisoners serving life sentences is four times of what it was in 1984.
In light of a system that is not only immoral and unethical, but also ineffective and unsustainable, these circumstances cry out for decarceration. One avenue that would lead to the freeing of significant numbers of people is increasing the use of compassionate release. The early release of elderly and ill prisoners is an effective way to affirm human dignity and morality, and to move the nation toward decarceration.
The last four decades saw a burst of mandatory sentencing laws put on the books, a ramping up of a “war on drugs” and truth-in-sentencing convictions, which require that people serve most of their sentence on the grounds that this is necessary for justice to be served. This has culminated in a US prison population explosion overwhelmingly impacting communities of color, particularly Black communities.
[For more on this story by Vijay Das & David A. Love, go to https://truthout.org/articles/...mpassionate-release/]
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