National Discussion on Federal Parole/Retroactivity
President Barack Obama recently signed The Fair Sentencing Act into law; this law has taken us a step into the right direction, towards ending racial disparities and into the beginning of true justice, but the fight for true equality and fairness is far from over.
2 ½ decades ago former NBA player, Len Bias died from a cocaine overdose, causing Congress to quickly implement a law that inadvertently created prejudices, destroyed millions of families, caused unnecessary lengthy sentences for non-violent offenders and targeted a specific race – African Americans.
Though African Americans will no longer receive punishments 100 times greater than whites for the same drug form, what happens to the blacks that have already received punishments one hundred times greater than whites – those that are still incarcerated under the ‘old’ law? Should these people remain in prison after the government has admitted the mandatory minimum sentences associated with crack cocaine are racially biased?
When we came to a place in history that slavery was wrong, we took the necessary steps to remedy the wrong by not only changing the slavery laws but also “freeing” those that were still enslaved. Should we not do the same for those that have been wronged under a racially biased law? By now everyone knows the Fair Sentencing Act does not address those that are still imprisoned for these non-violent drug offenses…it only applies to cases following the new enactment.
We, at Advocate4Justice www.advocate4justice.org, need to see these people set free, we need to see true fairness and justice and the reuniting of families. Retroactivity can assist in resolving this issue of those that have been swept up under the rug but the reinstatement of federal parole can completely eliminate the unbalances that plague the criminal justice system.
Vikki Hankins was sentenced to 23 years in prison for a non-violent offense two years after her mother’s suicide; there’s more to her tragedy. Vikki saw a man walk away from prison after serving 2 years in prison for her brother’s murder. Something is truly wrong with our system with this: murder – 2 years / petty, nonviolence – 23 years. www.vikkihankins.info
Granted steps have been made to correct certain areas of the system but we need to correct all not just portions! Bring back federal parole, made retroactive! The government is quite capable of forming a competent panel to determine who is ready for release to society. This is the system we had in place before Mr. Bias overdosed and this is the system that will not only bring true balance to the criminal justice system but it will also save billions of tax-payer dollars.
Retired Lieutenant Garry L. Jones, Department of Justice, FBOP
After years of witnessing unfair laws, while working for the DOJ, within the Federal Bureau of Prisons, Mr. Jones decided to start an organization that promoted change and that would bring balance to the criminal judicial system, hence the birth of Advocate 4 Justice; his interest were sparked when he led a Special Operations Response Team in 1995 riots within the prison system concerning the same racially biased laws. At that time the government admitted to the laws racism, yet refused to change the law after they agreed verbally to change it; inmates were looking forward to getting out and receiving justice yet it did not happen, hence the riots. Some of the same inmates are still in there. They’ve suffered yet another setback because the new law isn’t retroactive.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFp-dLzJb_g&feature=related
Vikki served 18 years of her 23 year prison sentence prior to becoming Vice President of Advocate4Justice… http://www.orlandosentinel.com/videobeta/watch/?watch=d7762625-a01f-458e-87e6-7e6cdd3d7bdc&src=front
By: Vikki Hankins
