User:Briellebudroe/new sandbox

HISTORY

Since the late 1970s, prosecution of drug cases has been the central contributor to both the expansion of prisons and the “philosophical shift” to that of a more punitive system. In the early 1980s, the Nixon administration introduced the political term “War on Drugs,” condemning all unapproved drug use. This effort was further enforced by the Reagan administration who championed the sales of illegal drugs as a critical political issue. The passage of the Federal Sentencing Guidelines compelled judges to give lengthy sentences even when they believed the defendant was not a threat to society. The guidelines were very fixed, providing a “detailed list of point allocations for every illegal drug and specific sentence for the amount possessed or sold.” These strict guidelines sent men and women away for decades. The number of women in prison and the time they spent inside grew significantly throughout the 1980s and 1990s. The War on Drugs has been a major contributor to the increase in U.S. incarceration. More so, it has also expanded the criminalization of people by race and gender. For example, there has been a distinct increase in the number of incarcerated African American and Latina women in the U.S.