For my loved ones, and countless others, the current state of our justice system's harsh prison sentences often feels like a life sentence not just for the incarcerated, but their entire families. This is especially true for the African male community, where their prison sentences disproportionately fail to match the crime committed. My fiancé in particular, was met with a brutal 45-year sentence over a gun possession as a convicted felon. This trial was made even more challenging as the judge decided to throw the habitual offender charge at him mere two weeks before his day in court. Judge denying his attorney any further continuance to better prepare his trial now for the new charges set forth, two weeks prior to his trial.

According to the NAACP, African Americans are incarcerated at more than 5 times the rate of whites. The Sentencing Project further reports that one in three black men in the U.S. can expect to go to prison in their lifetime, a statistic far outstripping their counterparts in other racial and ethnic groups. These overly excessive sentences leave many children fatherless and their mothers struggling as single parents. These extended terms do not serve justice, instead they exacerbate social inequalities and contribute to the cycle of poverty in affected communities.

We call for a major overhaul of the mass incarceration system and an urgent reform of the unfair sentencing laws, to ensure that the punishment fits the crime and is not influenced by bias. Join us in this fight for justice and fairness. Please sign our petition today.