Today, it has become apparent that the generation of political powers today faces incredible challenges stemmed from the repercussions of policy enacted over two decades ago. Widely associated as making the greatest impact under the Bush and Clinton administrations judicial hardening was well underway in the later years of Bush’s presidency and throughout the entire time in office for Bill Clinton. To begin first, the concept of the Drug war made significant headway in the mandatory minimum sentencing arena and posed significant impact of criminal convictions as well as prison populations throughout the 1980’s and 1990’s. to provide insight on the type of impact this political movement was making throughout the entire United States; according
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Of course, this astronomical spike in prison populations across the US did not come without a laundry list of implications. Among the most notable, the real problem amongst prison populations and their racial makeup. Critics of the “War on Drugs” staunchly protested the increasingly apparent racial disparities as these in fact were the groups so greatly affected by the agenda. For example, throughout the same time frame, African American women had experienced significant effects of the new legislation given that their number of incarcerated for drug offenses increased by 828 percent—which consequently was double the increase compared to African American men and triple the increase among white females (Hutton, 19). Although remanence of protest pulsated across the US in waves of calls of injustice, the legislation remained widely popular among the majority of …show more content…
Going back to the later years under the Bush Administration when the movement began gaining ground; according to a 1988 Bureau of Justice Statistics study on prison release practices across 36 different states, (and notably used as a relevant propaganda piece by Attorney General William Barr) showed the fault in the Justice system. The study released showed that violent offenders were serving only 37 percent of their imposed prison terms on average; a fact that was widely seen as a failure on behalf of the justice department on all levels. In response to this perceived lapse in proper incarceration penalty, a push for the “truth in sentencing” initiative which included tight strains on the possibility of parole and early release would ultimately require that a minimum of 85 percent of sentencing must be served in cases involving "gun offenders, armed career criminals, and repeat violent offenders" (Hutton, 22). In wake of these claims, hysteria condemning the justice system as dysfunctional sparked federal intervention at all levels. As a result, the door was opened to extensive transformation within America’s justice department and ultimately lead to the challenges we now face as a society present
Of course, this astronomical spike in prison populations across the US did not come without a laundry list of implications. Among the most notable, the real problem amongst prison populations and their racial makeup. Critics of the “War on Drugs” staunchly protested the increasingly apparent racial disparities as these in fact were the groups so greatly affected by the agenda. For example, throughout the same time frame, African American women had experienced significant effects of the new legislation given that their number of incarcerated for drug offenses increased by 828 percent—which consequently was double the increase compared to African American men and triple the increase among white females (Hutton, 19). Although remanence of protest pulsated across the US in waves of calls of injustice, the legislation remained widely popular among the majority of …show more content…
Going back to the later years under the Bush Administration when the movement began gaining ground; according to a 1988 Bureau of Justice Statistics study on prison release practices across 36 different states, (and notably used as a relevant propaganda piece by Attorney General William Barr) showed the fault in the Justice system. The study released showed that violent offenders were serving only 37 percent of their imposed prison terms on average; a fact that was widely seen as a failure on behalf of the justice department on all levels. In response to this perceived lapse in proper incarceration penalty, a push for the “truth in sentencing” initiative which included tight strains on the possibility of parole and early release would ultimately require that a minimum of 85 percent of sentencing must be served in cases involving "gun offenders, armed career criminals, and repeat violent offenders" (Hutton, 22). In wake of these claims, hysteria condemning the justice system as dysfunctional sparked federal intervention at all levels. As a result, the door was opened to extensive transformation within America’s justice department and ultimately lead to the challenges we now face as a society present