In the 1970s, the solution to fighting the War on Drugs was to introduce mandatory minimum sentences so severe, it was thought it would deter would-be criminals to have drugs on them.
It didn’t work.
What was called the Rockefeller Laws carried a mandatory 15-year sentence for someone convicted of carrying as little as two ounces of marijuana. The law was signed in 1973, which in relative terms is about a few hours away from when Woodstock was first held (in 1969).
Think about the typical person holding two ounces of marijuana on their person. It’s safe to assume the person you thought of was fairly laid-back, probably well educated, employed and a serviceable member of society.
Until he or she was arrested for possession and whisked away to prison for 15 years.
Despite the protests of law enforcement officers from the very start, these mandatory sentences were not revised until 2009.
Now, Albany County District Attorney David Soares is part of an initiative to reform minimum sentences nationwide.
The United States, the shining beacon for democracy and opportunity that it is, possesses the highest incarceration rate in the world. America stakes claim to 25 percent of the world’s total population of imprisoned individuals, and not all of them are hardened, violent criminals.
Dostoyevsky once wrote that you can judge a society by how well it treats its prisoners. We as a society are faced to look at who and how we imprison those who break the law. Because, right now, it’s not working. Experts have already stated our prisons work as a social networking hub for career criminals. Those we introduce into that world, are hard pressed to get out of that lifestyle because they have to check “yes” next to whether or not they’ve been charged with a felony.
Decreasing mandatory minimum sentences on non-violent crimes, and pushing to improve rehabilitation programs are certainly steps in the right direction. As Soares said in Washington, Albany has taken these steps. We’re in the midst of a growing heroin problem in this corner of the nation. The tough love dealt by former Rockefeller Laws is not the magic bullet that will destroy the issue. Get down to the treating the cause. Get those individuals help. These are the kind of initiatives best suited for a first-world country who others look towards for solutions.
That is, if you are of the mind-set that our prison system is meant to rehabilitate and re-educate.
