NAACP Press Statement
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - -
By Reverend Julius C. Hope, Director of the NAACP's National Department
of Religious Affairs
September 21, 2004
Greetings!
Let me begin by introducing myself. I am Reverend Julius C. Hope,
Director of the NAACP’s National Department of Religious Affairs.
The NAACP was founded in 1909 and has more than 2,200 membership units
nation-wide in every state of our Union. The NAACP has always maintained
deep roots in our nations’ religious community and it is from
these roots that I speak to you today.
Solomon wrote in Proverbs 21:3 “To do justice and judgment is
more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.” We stand here today
to declare and say to all that Mandatory Minimum Sentencing is tearing
away at the soul of the justice system of this country. Something
isn’t right with this system.
Let me make it clear that we are keenly aware of the impact of crime
in low-income communities, which is disproportionately made up of
African Americans and people of color, but we also understand that
Mandatory Minimums only address the symptoms that plague our communities,
rather than the cause.
Filling prisons with individuals with drug problems over the last
2 decades has not reduced the drug problem or decreased the adverse
effects on families, of the violent drug trade, nor stemmed the spread
of this epidemic.
The truth is, Mandatory Minimum Sentencing, has only further persecuted
the least culpable offenders, rather than targeting the serious drug
trafficker. Mandatory Minimums can be viewed as “the new Jim
Crow laws” of our country. While African Americans make up approximately
15% of the drug users in this country, we make up 37% of those arrested
for drug violations, 59% of those convicted, and 74% of those sentenced
to prison for drug offenses. Where is the “justice”?
To those men and women of integrity, and my Christian brothers and
sisters, we are charged with being the voice that speaks truth to
leadership and power. Government has become addicted to victimizing
the most vulnerable among us, the poor and attempting to portray it
as justice.
Perhaps the biggest irony of the current mandatory minimum sentencing
is that as a result, the Federal Bureau of Prisons’ budget has
increased by more than 1,350%, from $22 million in 1986 to over $3
billion in 1997. This means that almost $2.8 billion that could be
spent on prevention, interdiction, and fighting drug “King-Pins”
is being spent on housing small-time crack cocaine users.
I want to applaud Representative Maxine Waters and the Interfaith
Drug Policy Initiative for leading this intervention effort.
I want to leave you with a paraphrase of the passage that I opened
with and say to you, don’t just talk about justice, make it
happen and become more of a reality by repealing the Mandatory Minimum
sentencing laws. It is time to invest and build up America, by properly
educating our children, rebuilding the economic base and increasing
employment opportunities rather than exploit her.
I pray that God’s grace and the efforts of so many dedicated
individuals we repeal mandatory minimum sentencing.
The Struggle Continues,
Reverend Julius C. Hope, Director
NAACP National Department of Religious Affairs
Interfaith
Drug Policy
Initiative, P.O. Box 6299, Washington,
D.C. 20015
Phone: 301-933-7681 Fax:301-933-7682 |
|
