A panel-style event titled “Incarceration Nation” was hosted by the Young Americans for Liberty April 13. The event discussed problems with incarceration in the United States and possible reforms for these issues.
Approximately 96 people were in attendance.
The event began with opening remarks by Young Americans for Liberty co-chair and third-year Batten student Grace Charlton.
Charlton then introduced the four panelists for the event: Eric Alston, senior policy and research analyst at the Charles Koch Institute; Sherri Moore, University commerce law prof. and former defense attorney; Michael Stone, executive director of Virginians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty; and Jordan Richardson, senior policy analyst at Generation Opportunity .
The panel began with a discussion about the War on Drugs.
“The statistics would blow your mind of the number of of individuals imprisoned,” Moore said. “Four out of five individuals incarcerated are not violent offenders.”
Due to law enforcement’s focus on arresting people for drug crimes, non-violent crimes are also being penalized more than violent crimes, Alston said.
Charlton then asked the panelists which groups of people are disproportionately punished by the justice system and the death penalty.
Moore said the African-American community is disproportionately punished. Citing statistics from 2011, Moore said African-Americans comprised 13 percent of the U.S. population but 40 percent of the prison population.
Alston said juveniles and those from impoverished communities are often punished by the justice system as well.
Panelists were also asked about ways to deal with encounters with the police.
“When you are confronted with policemen, you always say as little as possible,” Moore said. “Use your phone and film them.”
Stone suggested first, avoiding the police and second, “treating them like royalty,” including “no smart-talking” and saying “yes ma’am” and “no ma’am.”
Charlton said she wanted to hold the event because of the amount of support surrounding incarceration issues.
“You can pull so many people from so many political affiliations and backgrounds who are willing to come out and support this issue,” Charlton said. “I wanted to bring them together.”
A number of people from a variety of backgrounds were invited to participate in the panel, Charlton sid. Each of the panelists were ultimately chosen based on specific qualities they could bring to the discussion.
Charlton said she hoped the attendees understood that even though there are a lot of issues, things can be done about them.
“We’re really close to abolishing the death penalty and there are bills on the Senate floor,” Charlton said. “We don’t want people to get overwhelmed, and we want people to know they can do something about [these issues].”
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