Locking Up Our Own: Crime and Punishment in Black America

Decriminalization refers to the process of ceasing to treat something as a criminal offense. In 1975, Clarke unveiled a bill to decriminalize marijuana in Washington, DC. The bill would have eliminated imprisonment as a possible penalty for possession, replacing it with a $100 fine. Clarke’s proposal coincided with national decriminalization efforts. According to Forman, the failure of Clarke’s bill, due primarily to opposition from Black leaders, spurred the mass incarceration of Black people.

The term mass incarceration, also called mass imprisonment or the prison boom, refers to the extremely high rate of incarceration in the US. Mass incarceration began in the 1970s with tough-on-crime policies that disproportionately targeted young Black men. According to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the country’s prison population has increased 500% since the 1970s (“Mass Incarceration.” ACLU). Two million people are currently incarcerated in the US, more than any other country. Moreover, the US spends over $80 billion on incarceration each year.

The NAACP is a civil rights organization devoted to advancing justice for African Americans. Founded in 1909, the organization’s mission is “to achieve equity, political rights, and social inclusion by advancing policies and practices that expand human and civil rights, eliminate discrimination, and accelerate the well-being, education, and economic security of Black people and all persons of color” (“Our Mission.” NAACP). Although some members of the NAACP opposed mandatory minimums for drug offenses, others supported tough-on-crime measures to curb drug and gun crimes in Black neighborhoods.

Pretext stops, also called investigatory stops, refer to the use of traffic laws to uncover other crimes. Pretext stops (and subsequent searches) exploded in popularity in the 1990s as police ramped up efforts to reduce drug and gun crimes. Police targeted poor, Black communities for pretext stops, thereby fueling the mass incarceration of Black people.