Is the 14th Amendment No Longer Applicable?

     A big reason that most people do not understand this issue of social justice termed Mass Incarceration, is that they do not have any personal connection to it; and those that do, choose not to discuss it.

    This so-called War on Drugs that was brought to fruition in 1968, when the administration of then President Richard Nixon, decided to dramatically increase the budget allotted to fight a war against the use and sale of illegal drugs in the United States. Thirty-five years later this war has done little to curb the use of drugs and in fact provides indirect impetus for the proliferation of drug cartels.  What would happen to drug cartels if drugs were not legalized but decriminalized?  The cost of drugs would significantly decrease and would dramatically reduce the massive profits recognized by them because the criminalization of drugs drives up the price, demand, and subsequent profits.

     The question must still be asked why is there a disparity between the racial makeup of those incarcerated for drugs when there is much scholarly research that show that White, Black and Brown people use drugs at roughly the same rates.  Research has shown that Whites use marijuana at a five times higher rate that Blacks, and are three time more likely to have ever used crack cocaine.  But incarceration rates show that Blacks make up over 60% of those incarcerated for drugs.  Could this be because the War on Drugs is actually a war on people of color?  Let us not make the mistake that White people are not impacted by this war on people because they are.  There are lives destroyed by this war and the collateral damage inflicted on their families. Those incarcerated are released on parole or probation and they then suffer the stigma of being disenfranchised from society by felon disenfranchisement statutes that restricts their ability to obtain housing, employment, financial aid opportunities (educational), professional licenses, the ability to vote, and the ability to provide for their families.

     Mass Incarceration and subsequent felon disenfranchisement construct a mine field that most individuals cannot navigate. It increased the chance of recidivism, and long term incarceration. 

     All of these issues are the consequences of a system that violates the 14^th Amendment to the United States Constitution by not providing equal protection under the law to all people.