Locking Up Our Own: Crime and Punishment in Black America

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2017

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Introduction

Part 1, Chapters 1-3

Part 2, Chapters 4-6

Epilogue

Key Figures

Themes

Index of Terms

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

Beta

Discussion Questions

EpilogueChapter Summaries & Analyses

Epilogue Summary: “The Reach of Our Mercy, 2014-16”

The Epilogue focuses on the recent move away from punitive justice. In 2013 and 2014, under the leadership of councilman Tommy Wells, the DC city council passed a proposal to decriminalize marijuana. In contrast to the 1970s, when crime rates were rapidly increasing, the US in 2014 was well into what criminologists call “the great American crime decline” (218). Although shootings remain common in poor, Black neighborhoods, violent crime is down nationwide. The cause of the drop is unclear. Some credit tough-on-crime measures, while others point to an aging population and the end of the crack epidemic. Whatever the case, the decline prompted officials across the country to adopt less punitive approaches to crime.

Barack Obama supported criminal justice reform during his two terms as US President. Obama recognized the role marijuana played in The Mass incarceration of Black People and advocated for less severe punishments for nonviolent drug offenders. His approach to reform was typical of elected officials at that time, including Black officials. For Forman, however, this approach doesn’t go far enough. Forman describes the case of Dante Highsmith, a juvenile offender charged with armed robbery for robbing a man of $12 with a knife in his pocket. Forman learned that Dante had been removed from his mother’s custody at the age of eight and that he had behavioral problems at school. At the age of 16, Dante joined a gang for camaraderie and protection. What he needed was a place to go after school away from his gang, not juvenile detention. Forman found many promising programs, but none would accept Dante because he was deemed a violent offender.

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This example underscores the limits of the nonviolent approach to criminal justice reform. Forman argues that this type of reform is too narrow in scope. He urges readers and policymakers to humanize offenders, even those who commit violent crimes. Some may benefit from addiction programs, others from education and job training. All need lawyers who will lobby for them the way Forman lobbied for Dante. Forman stresses the importance of accountability rather than vengeance. In addition to rehabilitation and education programs, he wants to increase funding for public defenders and to eliminate mandatory minimums. He also advocates for schools inside juvenile and adult prisons, as well as restoring voting rights to former convicts. Mass incarceration occurred incrementally. Dismantling it will also take many steps.

Epilogue Analysis

The Epilogue addresses criminal justice reform in the last decade, focusing on racial disparities in the criminal justice system and The Mass Incarceration of Black People. Forman describes the 2013-2014 decriminalization debates in DC. Councilman Wells proposed doing away with incarceration for marijuana offenses, as Clarke did in 1975. Also like Clarke, Wells proposed replacing incarceration with small fines. Where Clarke’s proposal failed, however, Wells succeeded. Forman contextualizes the decriminalization debates to explain why this happened. Whereas crime rose dramatically in the 1970s, it reached an all-time low in 2014. As the social group most impacted by drugs and violence, Black people overwhelmingly opposed decriminalization in 1975. By 2014, however, the situation had changed, a point Forman demonstrates with statistics: “In 1975, polls indicated that only 39 percent of black voters supported legalization, while 51 percent opposed it. By 2014, a solid 58 percent of the city's black residents supported marijuana decriminalization” (220). Forman argues that rising crime and fear of violence spurred the tough-on-crime measures of the late 20th century. With crime at a low, Black people were less persuaded by tough-on-crime approaches and turned instead to decriminalization as a more effectively way to address drug offenses.

The early aughts not only saw a drop in crime, but also a move for social justice. As Forman observes, racial disparities in the criminal justice system are now abundantly clear. According to one study, police arrested more Black people for marijuana possession in 2014 than white people. Moreover, Black offenders typically received tougher sentences than white ones (219). Incarceration rates mirror inequities in arrest practices: “According to the most recent data, African Americans are held in state prisons at a rate five times that of whites. In eleven states, at least one in twenty adult black men is in prison” (218). These studies convey the impact of the War on Drugs and tough-on-crime policies on Black people. Exacerbating the problem are laws requiring employers, housing agencies, and schools to use arrest records against offenders. Forman presents the decriminalization of marijuana in DC as an important victory for Black people and social justice advocates. Decriminalization marks the shift toward more equitable and restorative approaches to criminal justice. For Forman, this process must include investing in education, afterschool programs, and rehabilitation, in addition to funding public defenders and doing away with tough-on-crime policies. Only then will the country address its mass incarceration problem.