used his space in Sunday's paper to highlight a new book called , which tells the story of two young men from the decaying, inner-city streets of Baltimore named Wes Moore. One went on to win a Rhodes scholarship in 2000 and now has a successful career and family, and this book. The "other" Wes Moore is currently serving a life prison sentence for the murder of an off-duty police officer.
In the book, Wes Moore writes, "The chilling truth is that his story could have been mine. The tragedy is that my story could have been his."
Despite where both men ultimately end up in life, their respective roles could easily have been reversed, as both struggled to break out of the cycle of incarceration that traps far too many Americans, particularly low-income African-American men.
Kristof writes:
It should be a scandal that $216,000 on each child in the juvenile justice system, and only $8,000 on each child in the Oakland public schools.
It is indeed tragic that many young people in our country do not receive the care and support that are essential to success in life until it is too late. The question of why we are willing to spend such large sums to prosecute and incarcerate young people, but only a fraction of that amount on actually keeping young people out of the justice system and on the path to a successful and promising life, must be asked.
There is currently legislation pending in both the House and Senate called the Youth PROMISE (Youth Prison Reduction through Opportunities, Mentoring, Intervention, Support, and Education) Act. The Youth PROMISE Act would proactively focus on prevention practices that only address the underlying root causes of youth violence and gang activity, but also yield impressive cost-savings in the amount of federal and state money spent on incarceration every year. Instead of funneling more young people into the juvenile and adult criminal justice systems, Youth PROMISE would engage both vulnerable young people and the communities in which they live before crimes are committed or acts of violence take place.
At its core, it is about breaking the vicious cycle of crime and incarceration and the notion that there are "throwaway" children who are a lost cause.
in fundamentally changing the way our public policies approach the intersecting issues of poverty, crime and young people.
The young Wes Moore who went on to become a Rhodes Scholar attributes much of his success in life to the persistent determination of his mother in ensuring he was given an education and the role of mentors in steering his life in a hopeful direction.
We know what works with vulnerable young people. It's not rocket science. What it does require is a willingness to see the promise in every child and the investments to reach them through evidence-based prevention programs. While the cycle of incarceration is daunting, it is not indestructible. We owe it to the most vulnerable members of society to begin doing everything within our power to chip away at it.
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Press ReleaseDec 2024
Prisoners' Rights
Criminal Law Reform
ACLU Sues Bureau of Prisons for Keeping People in Prison Longer Than the Law AllowsACLU Sues Bureau of Prisons for Keeping People in Prison Longer Than the Law Allows
WASHINGTON – A federal lawsuit brought today by the American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of D.C., and Jenner & Block LLP challenges the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) for unlawfully incarcerating people longer than the law allows under the First Step Act. The lawsuit contends that the BOP’s failure to implement the First Step Act according to its plain language violates the rights of thousands of people who should be returning to their communities and rebuilding their lives but instead remain incarcerated. Signed into law in 2018 by then-President Donald Trump, the bipartisan First Step Act was designed to reduce the population in federal prisons, reform extreme sentencing laws, and provide programming and reentry transition services to people in prison. Central to the First Step Act is a system of earned time credits, which allows people in prison to earn time off their sentences and time out of prison by participating in rehabilitation programs. Through the First Step Act, Congress unambiguously ordered BOP to move people out of prison when they meet certain requirements to use their earned time credits. Instead of faithfully following the mandatory law, BOP adopted a regulation treating the law as optional. As a result, thousands of people, who should already be back in their communities and with their families, remain in prison. “Every extra unlawful day our clients spend in prison is a serious injustice,” said Emma Andersson, deputy director of the Criminal Law Reform Project at the ACLU. “It is egregious that the Bureau of Prisons is imprisoning people for months longer than the law allows. The government must follow through on its legal obligation to get people out of prison on time and back into their communities, where they belong.” Additional comments below from: Vanessa Crowe, plaintiff: “Time is what I owed for my wrongdoing, and I have paid my time. But I should not have to spend more time in prison than the law allows. I often reflect on what I will miss during the months after when I should be out of prison. I will miss work and lose out on wages that would help me get back on my feet. I could be a tax paying citizen instead of a burden on society. But most of all, I will miss more precious time with my family. My family and I are ready to tum the page on this period in our lives — we are all ready to start a new life, a life with purpose, hope, and healing together. I want to start that life when I am legally entitled to start it-not five months later.” Arthur Spitzer, senior counsel at ACLU of D.C.: “There’s no excuse for the Bureau of Prisons to pretend not to understand Congress’s clear command that people who have earned the right to early release must be released. This law has been on the books for six years. The Bureau of Prisons has had plenty of time to understand it. Law enforcers should obey the law.” Betsy Henthorne, partner at Jenner & Block: “It has been six years since the First Step Act was signed, but despite Congress’s clear directives, the Bureau of Prisons continues to hold thousands of people in prison longer than the law allows. We should and do expect better—it’s past time for the BOP to ensure that those who have earned their release are able to return home to their families and communities according to the law Congress passed.” -
Maryland Supreme CourtDec 2024
Criminal Law Reform
Roland Branch v. State of MarylandRoland Branch v. State of Maryland
This petition to the Supreme Court of Maryland asked the court to reconsider its adherence to Whren v. U.S., 517 U.S. 806 (1996), which declared that a traffic stop undertaken for pretextual reasons does not violate the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution so long as the police have probable cause to believe that a traffic violation occurred. The ACLU, alongside the ACLU of Maryland, filed an amicus brief in support of the defendant’s petition, in which the ACLU argued that the court should take up the question of whether pretextual stops violate the Maryland Constitution. In September 2024, the Court denied the petition. -
North Carolina Supreme CourtDec 2024
Criminal Law Reform
State v. WrightState v. Wright
This case in the North Carolina Supreme Court involves the question of whether the police violated the U.S. Constitution when they searched the defendant, Mr. Wright’s, backpack even after he repeatedly said no to the search requests. The ACLU alongside the ACLU of North Carolina filed an amicus brief arguing that the search was unconstitutional because Mr. Wright’s eventual “consent” was the result of police coercion. Our brief urges the court to consider the totality of the circumstances that make one more susceptible to coercion, including race and poverty. -
News & CommentaryDec 2024
Criminal Law Reform
Disability Rights
Incarceration Should Not be a Death Sentence for Individuals Who Use OpioidsIncarceration Should Not be a Death Sentence for Individuals Who Use Opioids
New litigation centered on increasing access to substance-use disorder treatment in jails and prisons is helping to reduce mortality rates among incarcerated individuals.