THE REAL WAR ON CRIME: The Report...
THE REAL WAR ON CRIME: The Report of the National Criminal Justice Commission edited by Steven R. Donzinger (HarperPerennial: $15.; 320 pp., illustrated, paperback original). The statistics on the appalling number of young African American men in prison contained in this report have produced controversy across the political spectrum. The authors argue that the results of the “war on drugs” are so skewed that they can only be the result of discrimination within the justice system: “African Americans make up 12% of the U.S. population and constitute 13% of monthly drug users but represent 35% of those arrested for drug possession, 55% of those convicted of drug possession and 74% of those sentenced to prison for drug possession.” The report’s recommendations will also draw heated reaction: a three-year moratorium on prison construction, expanded drug rehabilitation programs and “racial impact statements” for major crime bills. This important study should be read and debated widely, especially in an election year.
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