Star Coalition to President Obama: Let's Tackle Mass Incarceration and Drug Policy Reform Together
Summary/Abstract
Coalition of multiple industry leaders urges new approaches to failed Drug War and advocates a paradigm shift in policy from the current Criminal Justice model to a Public Healthcare model.
Content
Superstar-Studded Coalition to President Obama: Let's Tackle Mass Incarceration and Drug Policy Reform Together
Russell Simmons, Will Smith, Dr. Boyce Watkins, Scarlett Johansson, Ron Howard, Mark Wahlberg, Kim Kardashian, Ben Jealous, Eva Longoria, Demi Moore, Sean “Diddy” Combs, Russell Brand, John Legend, Sir Richard Branson, Nicki Minaj, Harry Belafonte, and many others: NOW IS THE TIME for paradigm shift in CRIMINAL JUSTICE policies
Powerful Group Urges New Approaches to Failed Drug War, Move from Criminal Justice Toward Public Health Approach
NEW YORK, April 9, 2013 – Today, a coalition of over 175 artists, actors, athletes, elected officials and advocates, brought together by hip-hop pioneer Russell Simmons and Dr. Boyce Watkins, presented an open letter to President Obama, urging him to double down on his efforts to change the United States’ criminal justice policy from that of a punitive, suppression-based model to one that favors evidence-based prevention and rehabilitation. According to Department of Justice data, the U.S. leads the world in the incarceration of its own citizens, both on a per capita basis and in terms of total prison population. More than 500,000 of the 2.3 million people behind bars in the U.S. are incarcerated for nothing more than a nonviolent drug offense.
“It is critical that we change both the way we think about drug laws in this country and how we generate positive solutions that leave a lasting impact on rebuilding our communities,” said Russell Simmons. “We need to break the school to prison pipeline, support and educate our younger generations and provide them with a path that doesn’t leave them disenfranchised with limited options.”
A coalition of more than 175 concerned activists, humanitarians and celebrities have endorsed the letter, including: Russell Simmons, Dr. Boyce Watkins, Sir Richard Branson, Will Smith, Sean “Diddy” Combs, Scarlett Johansson, Ron Howard, Jennifer Hudson, Demi Moore, Eva Longoria, Michael Moore, Mark Wahlberg, Harry Belafonte, Jada Pinkett Smith, Cameron Diaz, Lil Wayne, Nicki Minaj, Chris Rock, Russell Brand, John Legend, DJ Pauly D, Mike Tyson, Rick Ross, Jon Hamm, Natalie Maines, Ludacris, to name a few. The coalition suggests that the President continue to take a number of reformative actions, including extending the Fair Sentencing Act to all inmates who were sentenced under the 100-to-1 crack/powder disparity, supporting the principles of the Justice Safety Valve Act of 2013 (which allows judges to set aside mandatory minimum sentences when they deem appropriate), and supporting the Youth PROMISE Act.
Dr. Boyce Watkins added: “The letter is intended to be a respectful appeal to the Obama Administration asking that we develop productive pathways to supporting families that have been harmed by the War on Drugs. Countless numbers of children have been waiting decades for their parents to come home, and America is made safer if we break the cycle of mass incarceration. Time is of the essence, for with each passing year that we allow injustice to prevail, our nation loses another piece of its soul. We must carefully examine the impact of the War on Drugs and the millions of living, breathing Americans who've been affected. It is, quite simply, the right thing to do.”
Misguided drug laws and draconian sentencing requirements have produced profoundly unequal outcomes for communities of color. Although rates of drug use and selling are comparable across racial and ethnic lines, blacks and Latinos are far more likely to be criminalized for drug law violations than whites. 2.7 million children are growing up in U.S. households in which one or more parents are incarcerated. Two-thirds of these parents are incarcerated for nonviolent offenses. One in nine black children has an incarcerated parent, compared to one in 28 Latino children and one in 57 white children.
“So called ‘tough on crime’ policies have failed our nation and its families, while ‘smart on crime’ policies work,” said NAACP President & CEO Benjamin Todd Jealous. “When we know that drug treatment is seven times more effective than incarceration for drug addicts, basic human decency demands our nation makes the switch. The fate of hundreds of people and the children who need them home and sober hang in the balance. Great progress is being made in states from New York to Georgia with strong bipartisan support. The time has come for all of us to do all that we can. The future of our families, states, and nation demand it."
The coalition hopes their letter will not only spark more meaningful conversations about the War on Drugs in the White House, but also encourage the public to be more actively engaged on these pressing issues.
To read the full letter to President Obama and to view the complete list of supporters, see below:
April 9, 2013
President Barack H. Obama The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W. Washington, DC 20500
Dear Mr. President,
Your hard work and leadership on issues affecting the unrepresented classes of people in our nation have served as an inspiration to many of us who hope for brighter futures for all Americans. In that spirit, we believe the time is right to further the work you have done around revising our national policies on the criminal justice system and continue moving from a suppression-based model to one that focuses on intervention and rehabilitation. We are proud of your accomplishments around these issues, specifically your leadership on gun control, your investments in "problem solving courts," your creation of the Federal Interagency Reentry Council, your launching the National Forum on Youth Violence Prevention and your prosecution of a record number of hate crimes in 2011 and 2012. We certainly hope that this type of leadership is appreciated by all members of Congress, regardless of political affiliation, and you are joined by members of all parties in your pursuit of a more perfected union.
Mr. President, it is evident that you have demonstrated a commitment to pursue alternatives to the enforcement-only "War on Drugs" approach and address the increased incarceration rates for non-violent crimes. Your administration has moved in the right direction by committing increased funds to drug prevention and treatment programs and supporting state and local re-entry grants. We encourage you to continue your efforts to revamp the policies of the last 30 years that have seen the prison population skyrocket.
The greatest victims of the prison industrial complex are our nation’s children. Hundreds of thousands of children have lost a parent to long prison sentences for non-violent drug offenses, leaving these children to fend for themselves. Many of these children end up in the criminal justice system, which comes as no surprise as studies have shown the link between incarceration and broken families, juvenile delinquency, violence and poverty.
Mr. President, we are a coalition of concerned advocates that is ready to support you in more innovative criminal justice reform and implementing more alternatives to incarceration. As you set in motion research and policy to combat this societal crisis, this coalition is poised to help you make the transition successful. In 2010, the passage of the Fair Sentencing Act was a tremendous step in the right direction, and we appreciate how hard you worked on getting that done. Some of the initial policies we recommend is, under the Fair Sentencing Act, extend to all inmates who were subject to 100-to-1 crackto-powder disparity a chance to have their sentences reduced to those that are more consistent with the magnitude of the offense. We ask your support for the principles of
the Justice Safety Valve Act of 2013, which allows judges to set aside mandatory minimum sentences when they deem appropriate.
We ask that you form a panel to review requests for clemency that come to the Office of the Pardon Attorney. Well-publicized errors and omissions by this office have caused untold misery to thousands of people. Additionally, we want to applaud your staunch commitment to re-entry programs that are necessary to ensure that those who leave the system are able to become productive members of society as well as reliable husbands, fathers, mothers and wives. We certainly would like to help you achieve an increase in the number of these transition programs. Finally, we strongly urge you to support the Youth Prison Reduction through Opportunities, Mentoring, Intervention, Support, and Education (Youth PROMISE) Act, a bill that brings much needed focus on violence and gang intervention and prevention work.
During your presidency you have made important steps and you now have the opportunity to leave a legacy by transforming our criminal justice system to an intervention and rehabilitation based model. Many of those impacted by the prison industrial complex are among your most loyal constituents. Your struggles as the child of a single mother allow you to identify with millions of children who long to be with their parents. We request the opportunity to meet with you to discuss these ideas further and empower our coalition to help you achieve your goals of reducing crime, lowering drug use, preventing juvenile incarceration and lowering recidivism rates. We stand with you, ready to do what is just for America.
Sincerely,
CIVIL RIGHTS LEADERS & ADVOCATES
Harry Belafonte
Julian Bond
Dr. Benjamin Chavis
Major Neill Franklin, LEAP
Rev. Jesse Jackson
Benjamin Todd Jealous, NAACP
Avis Jones-Deweever, National Council of Negro Women
Maria Theresa Kumar, VotoLatino
Donna Lieberman, NYCLU
Margaret Moran, LULAC
Marc Morial, National Urban League
Ethan Nadelmann, Drug Policy Alliance
Rev. Al Sharpton, NAN
Rashad Robinson, Colors of Change
Anthony Romero, ACLU
Michael Skolnik
Julie Stewart, Families Against Mandatory Minimums
Susan Taylor
Dr. Boyce Watkins
Brent Wilkes, LULAC
Vanessa Williams, National Conference of Black Mayors Rev. Lennox Yearwood, Hip-Hop Caucus
ENTERTAINMENT COMMUNITY
La La Anthony
Roseanne Barr
Russell Brand
Jim Carrey
Cedric The Entertainer
Margaret Cho
Affion Crockett
Rosario Dawson
Cameron Diaz
Mike Epps
Omar Epps
Jamie Foxx
Tyrese Gibson
Adrian Grenier
Jon Hamm
Hill Harper
Woody Harrelson
Amber Heard
Dule Hill
Ron Howard
J Ivey
Terrence J
Eugene Jarecki
Kris Jenner
Scarlett Johannson
Kim Kardashian
Khloe Kardashian-Odom
Kourtney Kardashian
Sanaa Lathan
LL Cool J
Nia Long
Eva Longoria
AnnaLynne McCord
Demi Moore
Michael Moore
Keya Morgan
Jay Pharaoh
Dominic Purcell
Tim Robbins
Chris Rock
Susan Sarandon
Sarah Silverman Russell Simmons Vanessa Simmons Jada Pinkett Smith Will Smith
Tika Sumpter Gabrielle Union Denise Vasi
Mark Walhberg Estella Warren Kerry Washington Pauletta Washington
Marlon Wayans Jesse Williams Jeffrey Wright
FAITH COMMUNITY
Bishop James Clark
Bishop Noel Jones
Bishop Clarence Laney
Bishop Edgar Vann
Dr. Iva Carruthers
Deepak Chopra
Father Michael Pfleger
Rabbi Robyn Fryer Bodzin
Rabbi Menachem Creditor
Rabbi Nina Mandel
Rev. Jamal Bryant
Rev. Delman Coates
Rev. Leah D. Daughtry
Rev. Dr. Fredrick Haynes
Rev. Michael McBride
Rev. Dr. W Franklyn Richardson
Rev. Barbara Skinner Williams
MUSIC INDUSTRY David Banner
Eric Benet
Andre “3000” Benjamin Big Boi of Outkast Warryn Campbell Case
Charlamagne tha God Sean "Diddy" Combs Chuck D
DJ Envy