The Sentencing Project

The Sentencing Project is a nonprofit organization that promotes reduced reliance on incarceration and increased use of more humane alternatives to deal with crime. In the following viewpoint the project maintains that harsh drug laws have resulted in the imprisonment of hundreds of thousands of men and women. This has strained the prison system and diverted law enforcement resources from fighting other types of crime, the organization asserts. The Sentencing Project maintains that the majority of those incarcerated for drug violations are not high-level drug dealers and have not committed a violent crime. In addition, the project contends that the war on drugs has worsened racial discrimination within the criminal justice system, since the majority of those imprisoned for drug offenses are black.

As you read, consider the following questions:

1. In 1999 what percentage...