Obama Urged To Tackle Issue Of Mass Incarceration
Led by hip-hop legend Russell Simmons and noted scholar Boyce Watkins, more than 150 celebrities and public figures have lent their names and voices as support in a growing movement seeking to have the Obama administration tackle the lingering issue of mass incarceration.
In a letter addressed to both President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder, the transmission portends to be on the behalf of millions of families, the vast majority of them African American and other men of color, impacted by the clearly disproportionate sentences now being doled out to nonviolent drug offenders.
Currently, young minority males are sentenced for such offenses at a rate roughly ten times higher than that of whites convicted of the same crimes. It’s all meant for a climate and judicial system of mass imprisonment where such victims are as likely to be jailed as employed, as likely to have their names scribbled on prison log sheets as printed on voter ID cards.
With the support of celebrities ranging from Sean “Diddy” Combs to Ron Howard, Will Smith, and Mark Wahlberg, both Simmons and Watkins hope their initiative will soon bring about change. The clearly broad based coalition is now requesting the administration intensify its efforts aimed at changing current drug policies from a punitive, suppression-based model to one that favors evidenced based prevention and rehabilitation.
According to Department of Justice data, the U.S. leads the world in incarcerating its own, both on a per capita and total population basis. Of the 2.3 million people now behind bars, more than 500,000 detainees are held on nonviolent drug offenses and well over half of those inmates are minority males. 
“It’s critical we change both the way we think about drug laws and how we generate positive solutions that leave lasting impact,” said 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.”
With that in mind, the coalition is making several suggestions to the administration, including extending the Fair Sentencing Act to inmates sentenced under the 100-to-1 crack/powder disparity and supporting principles of the Justice Safety Valve Act that allows judges to set aside mandatory sentences when deemed appropriate. Support for the Youth PROMISE Act, otherwise known as legislation providing needed community funding for youth anti-violence programs, is also trumpeted as keen.
“The greatest victims of the prison industrial complex are our children,” the letter commences, before closing “during your presidency you have made important steps and now have the opportunity to leave a legacy on transforming the criminal justice system.”