Sociology Exam #3 Flashcards
(130 cards)
created a 100 to 1 sentencing disparity for crack vs. powder cocaine possession; mandated a minimum 5 year sentence for possessing 500g of powder and 5g of crack
Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986
people of color more likely to use crack cocaine that powder cocaine; act of institutional racism
Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986
80% of those imprisoned under Act were Black
Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986
laws that restricted Black people’s right to own property, conduct business, buy and lease land, and move freely through public spaces
Black Codes
criminalized men who were out of work; outlawed begging, loitering, walking at night, walking without a purpose, panhandling, going from business to business looking for work, etc
Vagrancy Laws
Central element were Vagrency Laws
Black Codes
effectively outlawed being Black in America
Black Codes
forced prisoners to work for private companies for no pay, often on the same field they work when they were enslaved
Convict Leasing Programs
these programs were introduced in Southern prisons in order to uphold the Southern economic system (which was built upon slavery and suffered when slavery became illegal
Convict Leasing Programs
reduced the sentencing disparity for crack vs. powder cocaine from 100:1 to 18:1; better but still unequal
Fair Sentencing Act of 2010
used to control Black people after the abolition of slevery; between 1880 and 1930, mobs murdered over 2,300 Black men, women and children
Lynch Mobs
the White public justified lynching as protecting White women from Black men; _____ thrived on a widespread belief that Black men were violent predators
Lynch Mobs
“Offenses” used to justify lynching were incredibly borad, subjective
Lynch Mobs
upheld inequality:
- Upheld White supremacy: Black people could not find refuge in the law
- Upheld White patriarchy: increased white women’s dependence on white men
Lynch Mobs
system incited by the prison boom, “tough on crime” policies, and the War on Drugs
Mass Incarceration
reflects the reality that the US criminalizes and incarcerates more of its own people than any other country in the history of the world, and inflicts enormous harm on already marginalized groups, primarily poor people of color
Mass Incarceration
Consequence: criminal record significantly reduces one’s chance of finding a job
Consequence of Mass Incarceration
Consequence: ex-convicts are denied acces to social services such as financial aid for college, food stamps, and public housing; ex-convicts have lower average incomes
Consequence of Mass Incarceration
Consequence: family consequences, such as limiting marriage and parenthood prospects/abilities
Consequence of Mass Incarceration
Consequence: reproduction of inequality; contrary to unequal outcomes in terms of voting rights, access to social services, income and wealth, health, family, and well-being
Consequences of Mass Incarceration
largely due to harsher sentencing policies, achieved through political moves
Prison Boom
Was caused by harsher sentencing policies, not a rise in crime or drug use
Prison Boom
Only 12% of the rise in incarceration 1980-1996 was driven by a rise in crime rates
Prison Boom
88% of the rise in incarceration was driven by changes in sentencing policies:
- limits on parole
- mandatory minimum sentencing
- Mandatory life sentences for non-violent crimes like drug offenses
- 3 strikes law
Prison Boom