Office of National Drug Control Policy, and then elevated the director to a presidential cabinet position. California’s’ three strikes law and exacerbated the problem it gave many non-violent criminals an average of 25 years upon breaking the law for the third time.

Finally, “Bill Clinton.” Bill Clinton was responsible for the most draconian criminal justice legislation that was ever perpetrated on the American People. Especially people of color. The 1994 “Crime Bill” this bill alone has accounted for the rising incarceration rates. In a speech at the convention, Clinton acknowledged that tougher incarceration provisions in the bill were a mistake, “I signed a bill that made the problem worse.” Although the 1994 Crime Bill was directed towards the Federal Prison system, the bill included $8.7 billion for prison construction to states that passed “truth-in-sentencing laws requiring that people convicted of violent crimes served at least 85 percent of their sentences. According to the Department of Justice, 11 states adopted truth-in-sentencing laws in 1995, in 1996, 27 states and the District of Columbia met the eligibility criteria for the truth-in-sentencing grants. Another 13 states adopted the truth-in-sentencing for “certain offenders to serve a specific percent of their sentence.”

Who benefits from putting people in prison how and why?
According to the “Justice Policy Institute,” one of the principal reasons for mass incarceration is due to the increase in private prisons and the political contributions made to legislators and campaign contributions. Two of the most prolific players in the private prison business are Corrections Corporation of America and The Geo Group. These companies hire armies of lobbyists to influence policymakers on a state and federal levels. Not to mention the local police departments through civil forfeiture, district attorneys’ who look for more convictions to show that they ...