Mass Incarceration System

A system that affected the entire public turned into a disproportionate system that incarcerate a great deal of African Americans. Mass incarceration mainly impact the poor and minorities which has been disproportionately impacted by drug enforcement strategies. Relating to family and opportunity, a widespread of incarcerated men of low income communities which has a negative impact on social and cultural norms. Legal challenges have arisen since the enactment of the three strikes law in 1994. Twenty-five years to life for non-serious and nonviolent felonies were made possible because of the three Strikes law. Constitutional questions about the separation of powers such as, the limiting of judicial discretion and the granting of prosecutorial discretion. According to the California Department of Corrections, the three strikes law disproportionately affects minority populations. Not only is the law disproportionally to minorities it is also disproportionally to the mentally ill and physically disabled offenders. Under the three strikes law, there are more than 45 …show more content…
With the continuing of overcrowding prisons due to excessive criminalization, over 300 reform bills were introduced to ease the overreliance on incarceration. Daniel P. Mears (2010), conducted a study on mass incarceration in the United States. Although there are many other claims about the use of mass incarceration as a source of being tough on crime, if the incarceration rates are a measure then the United States can be considered the most punitive country in the world. Research showed that correctional populations has expanded almost four times in size from 1980 to 2008. In 1980, 319,598 individuals were in prison and 785,556 in jails equaling 2.3 million individuals in jail or prison, and in 2008, 1,518,559 individuals were in prison (Mears,