The American Criminal Justice System Needs To Be Revamped
Clarence Aaron remains in jail serving a triple life sentence
by Demetrius Walker
I’ve never agreed with the American criminal justice system. Point blank, it is wrong and unfair on too many levels. Since a youngster in New York, I have observed how our current system has destroyed more lives than it has protected, reformed, and/or rehabilitated.
To be considered the land of the free, the United States certainly boasts a dynamic air of hypocrisy. We have the HIGHEST incarceration rate in the world. In fact, the International Herald Tribune (owned by the NY Times) recently reported that “The United States has less than 5 percent of the world’s population. But it has almost a quarter of the world’s prisoners (READ HERE).”
Very few people seem to have a problem with this in middle America. More than likely because this alarming figure affects the Black community in widely disproportionate numbers. I would venture to say that most African Americans, myself included, can list someone within their immediate reach that is incarcerated. Yet ALL Americans turn a blind eye to the prison industrial complex that assists young brothers like myself in donning orange jumpsuits. In case you haven’t realized it, there is an entire system set up to fill and build prisons to the economic benefit of corporations and private ventures.
So why haven’t there been widescale protests and marches against this problem in recent history? It’s because you’ve been tricked… hoodwinked… bamboozled into believing the overall American criminal justice system is fair. I agree that criminals should face adequate punishment for crimes that are committed against other Americans. However, I completely disagree with this nation’s drug laws in respect to non violent drug offenders. When I challenge this notion with the average individual, they usually admit that our current system has some hiccups, but later defend its merit in keeping the United States a safe place. This is such a farce that it sickens me to even type their words: “What’s the alternative D? How could we avoid locking up non violent drug offenders? They deserve whatever happens to them because they broke the law, etc.” To these questions I ask you to look at the circumstances surrounding the incarceration of Clarence Aaron.
Mr. Aaron had no previous criminal record. He was a successful student and athlete, graduating from LeFlore Magnet High School in Mobile, AL. He scored in the 74th percentile on the ACT. He attended Mississippi Valley State University and later transferred to Southern University in Baton Rouge, LA, where he was attending on an athletic scholarship for football and was majoring in marketing. During college, Clarence held a summer job through his membership with the International Longshoreman’s Association and participated in activities with his local Masonry Lodge. Clarence is the only son of Linda Aaron. In the summer before his final year at Southern University, Clarence was approached by a childhood friend from Mobile who asked Clarence if he knew of anyone who could supply him with cocaine. Clarence knew of people who dealt drugs in Louisiana and helped his old friend by arranging a meeting with a drug dealer from Baton Rouge. Distrustful of each other, the two parties insisted Clarence be present during their meeting. Clarence foolishly agreed. Following that incident, Clarence returned for his fourth year of studies at Southern University. The next winter Clarence was pulled out of a class by F.B.I. agents and arrested. He was charged with possession with intent to distribute nine kilograms of cocaine and attempting to possess with intent to distribute fifteen kilograms of cocaine. His first trial ended in a hung jury. Upon retrial, Clarence was convicted on the testimony of co-conspirators who got lenient sentences in exchange for their testimony against him.
Can you guess what kind of sentence Clarence received for foolishly introducing his two drug dealer friends? No, think again. THREE CONSECUTIVE LIFE SENTENCES. A young black man with infinite potential has been sentenced to sit in jail for the rest of his natural life for an adolescent mistake. Rapists and most murderers don’t even get triple life sentences. Petey the pedophile is comfortable at home in your neighborhood right now. Amy the axe murderer just got out on parole last week. Yet this brother and many like him across the United States are trapped and ruined by our disgraceful “justice” system. How does that make you feel?
As I faxed my letter to President Bush seeking a presidential pardon for Clarence, (obtain a copy here), I couldn’t help but to fume and boil with anger over this injustice that is all too common in this country. It gave me flashbacks of filming my college documentary on the incarceration of Marcus Dixon, a superstar football player acquitted of rape, but nonetheless given a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison for having sex with a high school classmate. I remember confronting racism in Marcus’ hometown of Rome, GA, being asked to leave the office of my school’s head football coach as I questioned why his Vanderbilt scholarship was rescinded before the trial even begun, and speaking at an Atlanta NAACP rally on Marcus’ behalf. In all 3 instances, the anger of injustice flowed through my vains. Reading Clarence Aaron’s story here reignited that fury.
I fault myself for not sustaining this level of outrage over the past few years. This displeasure previously sparked action that myself and others must seek in order to move the United States to that more perfect union. Therefore, I challenge you to get angry about the American criminal justice system. I encourage you to demand the downfall of the prison industrial complex. Barack better get plenty of paper for his fax machine ready because I will be leaning on him, as I leaned on Bush, to answer these inadequacies in American life. You should too.
About the Author: 
How would you suggest the system be changed? It’s easy to criticize and find fault, but how about being part of the solution. Be a patriot and improve the system rather than always being a outside whiner.
You have to be kidding me Publius. People like you are the very reason why the system remains the way it is. Drawing attention to America’s faults makes me unpatriotic? I suppose MLK and Malcolm X should have sat back and kept their mouths closed while your parents and grandparents were forced to eat in the “Coloreds Only” section. I propose forcing a change in the system by first bringing awareness to the issue, which is what my article represents, then inciting action (ie. petitioning our politicians to make a conscious effort to bring justice and decency to this country). The drug laws need to be CHANGED. Mandatory minimum sentences need to be ELIMINATED. If I didn’t love this country I wouldn’t be so furious about this injustice. You must have worked for the McCain campaign with your unpatriotic / anti-America accusation. I’ll see you on Palin’s campaign trail in 2012…
A “SINGLE VOICE PROJECT” is the official name of the petition sponsored by: The National Public Service Council To Abolish Private Prisons (NPSCTAPP)
THIS PETITION SEEKS TO ABOLISH ALL PRIVATE PRISONS IN THE UNITED STATES, (or any place subject to its jurisdiction)
The National Public Service Council To Abolish Private Prisons (NPSCTAPP) is a grass roots organization driven by a single objective. We want the United States government to reclaim sole authority for state and federal prisons on US soil.
We want the United States Congress to immediately rescind all state and federal contracts that permit private prisons “for profit” to exist in the United States, or any place subject to its jurisdiction. We understand that the problems that currently plague our government, its criminal justice system and in particular, the state & federal bureau of prisons (and most correctional and rehabilitation facilities) are massive. However, it is our solemn belief that the solutions for prison reform will remain unattainable and virtually impossible as long as private prisons for profit are permitted to operate in America.
Prior to the past month, and the fiasco of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, AIG, Lehman Brothers, and now the “Big Three” American Automobile manufacturers, the NPSCTAPP has always felt compelled to highlight the “moral Bottom line” when it comes to corrections and privatization. Although, we remain confounded by the reality that our government has allowed our justice system to be operated by private interests. The NPSCTAPP philosophy has always been “justice” should not be for sale at any price. It is our belief that the inherent and most fundamental responsibility of the criminal justice system should not be shirked, or “jobbed-out.” This is not the same as privatizing the post office or some trash pick up service in the community. There has to be a loss of meaning and purpose when an inmate looks at a guard’s uniform and instead of seeing an emblem that reads State Department of Corrections or Federal Bureau of Prisons, he sees one that says: “Atlas Prison Corporation.”
Let’s assume that the real danger of privatization is not some innate inhumanity on the part of its practitioners but rather the added financial incentives that reward inhumanity. The same logic that motivates companies to operate prisons more efficiently also encourages them to cut corners at the expense of workers, prisoners and the public. Every penny they do not spend on food, medical care or training for guards is a dime they can pocket. What happens when the pennies pocketed are not enough for the shareholders? Who will bailout the private prison industry when they hold the government and the American people hostage with the threat of financial failure…“bankruptcy?” What was unimaginable a month ago merits serious consideration today. State and Federal prison programs originate from government design, and therefore, need to be maintained by the government. It’s time to restore the principles and the vacated promise of our judicial system.
John F. Kennedy said, “The time to repair the roof is while the sun is shinning”. Well the sun may not be shinning but, it’s not a bad time to begin repair on a dangerous roof that is certain to fall…. because, “Incarcerating people for profit is, in a word WRONG”
There is an urgent need for the good people of this country to emerge from the shadows of cynicism, indifference, apathy and those other dark places that we migrate to when we are overwhelmed by frustration and the loss of hope.
It is our hope that you will support the NPSCTAPP with a show of solidarity by signing our petition. We intend to assemble a collection of one million signatures, which will subsequently be attached to a proposition for consideration. This proposition will be presented to both, the Speaker Of The House Of Representatives (Nancy Pelosi) and the United States Congress.
Please Help Us. We Need Your Support. Help Us Spread The Word About This Monumental And Courageous Challenge To Create Positive Change. Place The Link To The Petition On Your Website! Pass It On!
The SINGLE VOICE PETITION and the effort to abolish private “for profit” prisons is the sole intent of NPSCTAPP. Our project does not contain any additional agendas. We have no solutions or suggestions regarding prison reform. However, we are unyielding in our belief that the answers to the many problems which currently plague this nation’s criminal justice system and its penal system in particular, cannot and will not be found within or assisted by the private “for profit” prison business. The private “for profit” prison business has a strangle hold on our criminal justice system. Its vice like grip continues to choke the possibility of justice, fairness, and responsibility from both state and federal systems.
These new slave plantations are not the answer!
For more information please call 415.420.3891 or visit: http://www.npsctapp.blogspot.com or email: williamthomas@exconciliation.com
To sign the petition please visit: http://www.petitiononline.com/gufree2/petition.html
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!
William Thomas
National Community Outreach Facilitator
The National Public Service Council To Abolish Private Prisons
P.O. Box 156423
San Francisco, California 94115
Demetrius,
You raise some difficult questions no one seems to have figured out yet. As an aside, for people who haven’t kept up with Marcus Dixon, people should know that his sentence was eventually overturned (as you know, of course) and that he’s now living out his dream of playing pro football as a member of the Dallas Cowboys’ practice squad. Justice served.
Marcus’s circumstances were unique, though. The reasons he obtained justice probably leave others with less hope: A saint-hearted, high-powered attorney read about Marcus’s case and made it his life’s mission to overturn the sentence at the Georgia Supreme Court. That attorney invested an enormous amount of time and resources in the case and, fortunately, found the solution that lead to the court releasing Marcus. Marcus also had a massive public relations effort raising awareness of his case. I happened to have been a part of that and I believe you and I met during that time. If memory serves, we met in Rome when you and some other students came down.
I point all of this out to say that there are clearly absurd injustices like Mr. Aaron’s. It is clearly absurd to lock a man up for three life sentences for the crime in question if the facts are as you stipulate. The problem I’ve never been able to figure out is this: The answer obviously rests with elected officials changing laws that bring intelligence and fairness to such drug charges — and you’re exactly right that you can kill people and still serve less time than what Mr. Aaron is facing. But the problem is that we as a nation are not really a people that can talk rationally about drug offenses and drug laws. To even suggest bringing reason to the criminal justice system on this issue is to be called soft on crime and a proponent of drug use. It is, to use the word again, absurd.
Many groups have been fighting that battle for ages to no avail. It’s a subject no one wants to even talk about, let alone solve. I wish I had the answers but I simply don’t. I do know that people like you raising awareness of these issues can only help. Keep it up. You’re doing your part. That’s all any of us can — our part — and keep the faith that enough people doing their small part will eventually lead to change.
Right on my brother, this is a great article and you have my eternal respect. Keep spreading the message and spreading the power to encourage all of us as black men to stand up in unity and demand fair treatment for our people.
Dr. Boyce
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