communities where it was becoming increasingly prevalent”( ussc. gov), the result was a boom in prison populations, a disproportionate number of whom were minorities. Although it became abundantly clear that mandatory minimum sentences possessed inherent biases, judges were powerless to override them.
Just two years after the 1986 Anti-Drug Abuse Act, the Omnibus Anti-Abuse Act increased the mandatory minimum penalty for participating in drug activity from 10 to 20 years in jail. Additionally, the act added“ conspiracy to commit” drug trafficking to its list of crimes meriting mandatory minimum sentences and America’ s prison population exploded. President Reagan’ s War on Drugs boosted the economy with the need for increased law enforcement, correctional officers and the construction of facilities in which to house the growing number of drug offenders in the United States. In 1980, just two years prior to Reagan’ s first term, roughly“ 41,000 people were incarcerated for drug crimes according to the Sentencing Project. In 2014, that number was about 488,400- a 1,000 percent increase”( Politifact). This same study asserts that“ more people are admitted to prisons for drug crimes each year than either violent or property crimes”( Politifact). The War on Drugs is responsible for more than a quarter of all inmates