My first Magazine Final Draft Multimodal Project 4 | Página 20

The implementation of mandatory minimum sentences in the War on Drugs has resulted
in a significant portion of the American population being imprisoned unnecessarily. The elimina-
tion of judicial autonomy in regulating drug-related cases has crippled the prison system and
continues to be a detriment to justice as harmless drug addicts commonly receive lengthy sen-
tences rather than the treatment they need. Mass incarceration is a national problem; how we
treat the least powerful in our midst is the most telling reflection of our society. The War on
Drugs has failed the taxpayer as well as the growing number of “criminals” caught in its wake. It
is time to abandon the use of mandatory minimum sentences and to explore viable alternatives to
imprisonment for nonviolent drug offenders.
Works Cited
Alschuler, Albert W. “Bill Clinton's Parting Pardon Party .” Journal of Criminal Law &
Criminology, vol. 100, no. 3, 2010, pp. 1131–1168., www.heinonline.org.libproxy.calbaptist.edu/
HOL/Page?handle=hein.journals/jclc100&div=41.
Booker, Cory. “The war on drugs and incarceration rates.” @Politifact, www.politifact.com/
truth-o-meter/statements/2016/jul/10/cory-booker/how-war-drugs-affected-incarceration-rates/.
Burow, James H. and Carl T. Trisler. 1989. “America's Overcrowded Prisons.” The GAO
Journal (Fall):22-34. Google Scholar.
Burnett, Mark W. “Imposing Injustice.” The Nation, vol. 290, no. 4, ser. 5, Nov. 2012. 5.