Christopher Coyne and Abigail Hall’s analysis of the War on Drugs offers a criticism of the political movement and outlines the process by which it developed into a threat to black communities. As this study observes, the War on Drugs offered great monetary incentives for police departments to “get tough on crime” through federal funding of police militarization to combat drug crime as well as corrupt policies such as Civil Asset Forfeiture. The analysis then illustrates the disproportionate criminalization of black communities under the War on Drugs as a result, forcing black people into lower-class statuses by denying black drug offenders the right to vote, receive academic financial aid, and acquire employment. The analysis quotes an interview of Nixon advisor John Ehrlichman where he admits to the implementation of the War on Drugs as a means of harming black Americans. Though some may doubt the validity of this testimony, I think it’s important to note that the War on Drugs was prompted at a time when drug crime wasn’t on the rise and public opinion polls revealed that it wasn’t a primary concern of the American people, as revealed in Michelle Alexander’s The New Jim Crow, suggesting motives beside genuine drug crime response.
Destin Daniel Crettin’s Just Mercy explores the work of Equal Justice Initiative attorney Bryan Stevenson to document the personal harms that the American legal system inflicts on black men and lower-class communities in part because of the War on Drugs. My main takeaway from this film was that the law is by no means objective, serving as ammunition for both oppressors and liberators in the legal arena. The legal racial profiling that became commonplace because of the War on Drugs led to the wrongful conviction of Johnnie D McMillan, secured solely by the false testimony of a white felon with an incentive to lie to evade the death penalty. Afterward, when Stevenson petitions for a retrial and presents overwhelming evidence of McMillan’s innocence, the district judge denies him on the premise of the DA’s argument that Meyers was falsely motivated when he admitted to lying in his original testimony. The judge’s decision is illustrative of a justice system that has been designed to allow harm to black communities through subjective interpretation of legal evidence.
I think that Just Mercy‘s portrayal of the Monroeville community is very indicative of a societal acceptance of the criminalization of black people in the United States. Stevenson and his colleagues at the EJI receive stark opposition to their work to offer legal counsel to Death Row convicts, suggesting an acceptance of capital punishment for conviction of violent crimes, regardless of any evidence suggesting innocence. Meanwhile, Monroeville’s District Attorney defends his obligation to protect the community by keeping McMillan on Death Row despite evidence of his innocence, maintaining a criminalizing perspective on poor black men.
I also found it important to recognize that the War on Drugs was started at a time when Americans did not see concern and there was no rise in drug crimes. It has been scary to read and watch how much the legal system of this country allows people to get away with false accusations and targeting poor black communities. A disappointing and horrific idea that was present throughout the film was that the community needed someone to blame and took the first chance they got to put someone on death row. The prosecutors claimed they wanted justice for Ronda Morrison and to protect the Monroe community, but they did quite the opposite.
The fact that there are cash incentives for the departments with the most drug arrests is sickening. There is no reason why the federal government should be incentivizing the jailing of its own people. I think the War on Drugs should be ended, as it has been shown to not work.