Download The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF COLORED PEOPLE
4805 MT. HOPE DRIVE • BALTIMORE, MD 21215-3297 • (410) 580-5777
BENJAMIN TODD JEALOUS
President & Chief Executive Officer
LEON W RUSSELL
Chairman, Resolutions Committee
National Board of Directors
ROSLYN M. BROCK
Chairman, Board of Directors
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is the
nation’s oldest, largest and most widely-recognized grassroots based civil rights
organization. Formed in 1909 by a multiracial group of progressive thinkers, the
NAACP is a nonprofit organization established with the objective of ensuring the
political, educational, social, and economic equality of people of color. For over
102 years, the NAACP has challenged this nation to uphold its promise of equal
opportunity toward the goal of eliminating racial prejudice and removing all
barriers of racial discrimination through democratic processes.
In a process established by the NAACP Constitution, this resolution was adopted
by the delegates to the 101st Annual Convention in Kansas City, Missouri, during
the legislative session in July, 2010. It was subsequently ratified by the NAACP
National Board of Directors at its meeting on October 15, 2010. This resolution is
now the policy of the Association, and is “binding on the Board of Directors, the
Executive Committee, the Officers, and all units.”
Seeking Abolishment or Repeal of “Mandatory Minimum Sentencing”
WHEREAS, one in every 100 (2.4 million) adults are now confined in America’s jails
and prisons, resulting in the United States with only 5% of the world’s population
imprisoning one-quarter of the planet’s prisoners; and
WHEREAS, our country chose the dubious distinction of being the leading numerical
and per capita incarcerator in the history of the world, exceeding the combined prisoner
populations of the 36 other next-ranking nations combined by nearly half-a-million
citizens; and
WHEREAS, prison growth is not driven by increases in crime or overall population
growth, rather primarily from the political policy choices of enacting various Mandatory
Minimum sentencing schemes; and
WHEREAS, mandatory minimum sentencing laws were first enacted with New York
State’s infamous Rockefeller Drug Laws in 1973, which required long mandatory
minimum sentences even for first time, non-violent drug offenses extending to life in
prison, and even recently modified leaving 10,000 such souls serving interminable
terms; and
WHEREAS, over the next two decades, the majority of states and federal governments
enacted Truth-In-Sentencing (TIS) statutes, mandating that a minimum of 85% of –
what were already the longest prison sentences in the world—their terms be served
before release consideration; and
WHEREAS, the cumulative result of these mandatory sentencing changes has been
the tripling of the prison population from 1987 to 2007 and projected to grow another
200,000 over the next five years; and
WHEREAS, the impact of these (particularly drug-focused) unjust and ineffective
policies has been most devastating in low-income neighborhoods of color, deporting
entire generations of young men and women, destroying whole communities through
mass incarceration; and
WHEREAS, by categorical example of this imbalanced (if not targeted) impact, AfricanAmericans compose 13% of those committing drug offenses, but represent 60% of
those serving various forms of Mandatory Minimum sentences across the criminal
justice spectrum; and
WHEREAS, former-federal prosecutor and associate dean of George Washington
University Law School, Paul Butler, stated in the Fall 2009 issue of The Crisis, ―That’s
not only immoral, its crushing our families and neighborhoods.‖
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the NAACP work toward the education of all
citizens in recommending that the repeal of Mandatory Minimum (i.e., TIS) sentences
be a major accountability issue for elected officials/candidates who seek support from
the disproportionally-impacted communities of color; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the NAACP direct its National Office to use its
prestige and resources to repeal the Mandatory Minimum sentences; and
BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, that the NAACP direct its members and encourage
registered voters to contact their respective state and federal elected officials to repeal
their states’ and federal Mandatory Minimum sentencing statues.
Roslyn M. Brock
Chairman
National Board of Directors
Leon Russell
Benjamin Todd Jealous
Chairman
President & CEO
Committee on Resolutions