Affects the whole community and affects you as an individual or the you know whether or not and whether you know that person or not thats incarcerated. Get to inform. You should care. I have a background in film and video as a producer and i thought theres got to be something i can do so why not combine my career and my experience with the present system and come up with something for these kids. And a parent in that camera. And that they can look at and say. And then this isnt your fault you did nothing wrong it means and for many of these men and women its the 1st time theyve really taken responsibility which is huge and thats a 1st step in recovery of any kind. Is to take responsibility for. But even with. This. Very minute. I was going to go to the movie im going to do the best they can to stay out of this belief. For. Goodness. Its been the way. This was you guys in good numbers can we be with. The. Next chapter. From 1020. 00 to 1970 this whole half century of American History the rate of incarceration was roughly level or about 110. 00 per 100000. And this is a broad span of our history this is because the ruling twentys and prohibition the depression and all the social change the world war 2 the postwar economic boom the the fiftys the explosion of suburbia the sixtys and all the social turbulence through this whole period the rate of incarceration is roughly level in the United States at about 110. 00 from 100 towns and this reflects you know the policies of Police Departments and prosecutors and judges operating all over the country in the local and state level and then in the 1970 disorder changes so that by now the rate of incarceration issue why just over 773 requests are issue for africanamericans is over 4300. 00 and so you have to wonder how does what cheney why did this have centuries of stability get ended with this dramatic increase in harsh reaction in spades americas public enemy number one in the United States is drug abuse once the federal government decided that were going to have war on drugs we were able to then take a lot of money from the federal budget and send it out states helped by real. The need for money to deal with this problem i am glad that in this administration we have increased the amount of money for handling the problem of dangerous drugs 7. 00 goal it will be 600000000. 00 this year more money will be needed in the future virtually everybody is on the drug war was the number one issue and so you had politicians in both parties and you know district attorneys and elected sheriff everybody wanted to get in to drug cases and get aggressive about new laws to punish the new agents to arrest the new prosecutors to convict them and new prisons to hold them. We move the train when i was very young when we moved here we moved you know to malones we used to always well up and down the hallways of course it was the projects so some time we will sneak up on the roof which was the top floor 12th floor and you know look out and of course i was very scared as a young child but you know when you live in a projects its always so much stuff that you can get into my brother was tragically killed when he was ran over by a truck and i remember pacifically going to the corner with a habanera and seeing all the blood because they left all the blood still in the street the traumatic experience of losing my only brother and that truck x. And i know it had done something to me you know drugs from our state that time was hard all the way or because my son was doing drugs my nephews was too much drugs my niece was doing drugs my sisters with doing drugs it was like an epidemic. Of drug abuse. And i cannot explain. I cannot explain my feelings because i had at that time i didnt know how i felt you know i was sad because i felt like they were different in their lives but there was not than i could do about it to change their lifestyle. That was it. After my brother passed away i kind of withdrew from a lot of things i didnt talk as much i was very quiet on probably as early as my teenage years. 1213 years old you know i started sneaking a drink in a little bit here and there started smoking marijuana at a very young age i started all selling drugs in you know he came right along with. The family you tend to trust family when i 1st saw here and there with a. In the hallway and i used to be a hopeful monitor and out with station right in front of his locker so when i knew that he was coming to his locker i would put my hands up and like black youth wait. So he would have to say excuse me or something in that we started talking we got to know each other you know at the home many times in and out over our house. You know my home. Was a really home compared to our house margaret grew up with her parents before the parents all the nice decent house great mother great father. Something that i didnt have and i started you know just being around her a lot and being around family a lot and next thing you know you know its pretty much you know once we started going to get i was pretty was there in our house and 14 years old i was pretty much stay in there because my mom was on drugs she. Knew i was there she really didnt have a problem with it but a kindness started you know liveness there were more get out a very young age. By the time i was 1617. 00 i was fully engulfed in the drug game and it is only was so big it was only 7. 5 square miles so a lot of rumors a stylus britain along to the train detectives back then they had to take that one high school and they kind of got to know me very well and i guess they relayed that information to the trade narcotics and they started watching me and follow me around the stuff like that and i remember the 1st time that they that they raided my house i wasnt there but my mother was there and i was i think i just turned 17 and um they locked her up and i got a phone call saying that you know your mother was locked up and they want you to turn yourself in. So i ventured i turned myself in a 17 a let my mother go and i 1st time you ever going to joe i want to be you found us because i was. They told i was always those. Still in high school and we missed the part. When i got out i remember the detective telling me that you know as soon as i turn 18 theres going to come back. And if i dont straighten out my life that 1st bears will be none compared to other experiences in jail because then i will be over 18 and i will be going to a dull facility. Most historians look at the origin of the war on drugs as something of president nixon with his speeches and his creation of of the d. N. A. And other agencies in the 1970 s. But the war in drugs as we understand it with. Nor enormous case loads and and in and filled up prison population is really a feature of the 1980 s. Under president reagan drugs are menacing our society theyre threatening our values and undercutting our institutions theyre killing our children under reagan there was a tremendous increase in federal spending for anti drug activity cabinet level efforts and Congress Creating brea powerful new laws on day 2 of a new campaign against drugs the president backed up a tough talk with action for getting tough on drugs and we mean business its almost like overnight we had discrete idea what we go after the users. And thats what we did we started going after the users in a prison populations who are those obviously are far more users than are operations major operations in. We started treating sick people people who were addicted to drugs might remember talking to my grandmother and having a conversation with her about my wife and how far i had fallen she said to me there will always pray for you and im going to prayed and you change your life around. Here one of the things that she said to stuck with me was dead you know god is going to far in your darkest hour and only there when you realize who you truly your and i heard her but i really didnt hear her. And i left her house that they still didnt want to right back out into the street. I remember going to new york on the cob when coming back from new york coming down route one coming through union county we had drugs in the car and we had a gun in the car. And i remember being stopped at a light and get now switching drivers i got round to the passenger side and she took the drivers seat and not knowing that it was a cop car right behind us so once again i didnt want to go to court i was going to trial i told my laura that you know we just have to try to get all the charges pushed together give me one senses to be called do my time and hopefully straight not my life but i remember pacifically the judge sits in joes telhami. Element to tom loser. And he said trace you could bring to the 1980 you know you can begin again in 1980 he said come back before me for the 3rd time in the 3rd term is going to be a chore for you. Speak large. To the united. Player. This is a virtual invasion of our country. You know its going to say this. Is you know. What weve got to do is identify the threats that we have its crazy. Let it be an arms race in this period Dramatic Development the only really im going to resist. Will be successful. To sit down and talk. The direction to would judge to sentence can be done in 2 ways you can judge. Heres a crime and for this crime you can impose a sentence anywhere in this range from probation to some term of years in prison and the other way is to say judge you must impose some minimum number of years or months of imprisonment and go up from there so a mandatory minimum. A sentence where no matter how minor the role of the offender no matter how insignificant a violation of this crime it is a minimum term must be imposed mandatory minimum sentences are not new theyve been on the books in this country for 200 years and there are about 190 of them or something and if you look at them they read like the crimes issue or so you can see what the public was concerned about and then Congress Took that concern and translated it into law and to let sentencing legislation so on piracy on the high seas in like 17 ninetys a life without parole robbing banks and crossing state lines in 1934 was you know 10 years of prison skyjacking in the seventys for us 10 or 20 years in prison and so you can see the you know what was the point the headlines were the headlines were translated into a mandatory sentence and so in the eightys when drugs became a big deal and lots of concern about drugs it was in the top 3 of public concern congress reacted by creating new mandatory minimum sentences for drug crimes which congress sent to president when he was 5 years me to the minimum 5 grams of crack cocaine grams likes we. Can years minimum is 50 grand of crack cocaine thats like the weight of a kid or these are tiny kuan its all based on one factor your sense you know how what was a drug and how much of it did you have and that determines your sentence so culpability no longer really plays a major role in a persons a person sentence when the crime carries a mandatory minimum when president reagan signed the mandatory minimums and 96 the federal prison population was 36. 00. Now its well over 200 pounds this is a growth that no one could have imagined. The u. S. Is really unique in Human History there is no democratic nation thats ever tried to have such a mess social experiment as weve done that incarceration and weve got more prisoners than any other country in the. Numbers i mean i find it a bit disturbing that we have more prisoners from china and they have a 1000000000 more people than we do i dont think it gives people enough when they hear that we have 25 percent of the worlds prison population and only 5 percent of the worlds population in other words we are way over incarcerating compared to any other country in the world. Had allowed. Somebody is a storage area. And police found it and they came after me i ended up literally holding the bag. I knew nothing about the criminal Justice System you know here i was this middle class. Career never even a parking ticket and it was quite a surprise when we went to cork. I had that kind of time marijuana. And i was charged with possession of marijuana with the intent to distribute money going to conspiracy to murder i received a total of 55 Year Prison Sentence the judge suspended all but 6 i was fortunate enough. To make the 1st parole and i actually served in prison 14 months on the moon. Is the cards that weve put in with the messages and asked the families to respond so weve gotten some really good responses and this one was 3 fem up 3 members of the family viewed it. And we ask what were the ages of the children who saw it she put just want to put 6. She says extremely. Meaningful for the daughter of the mother who was incarcerated she loved that. We all did. And this one said our what in the message you mean to your family to know their family was ok thats a huge part these children want to know that their families have had their mom or dad so ok. This is the sole shoulders there to go no its been 3 years to see of you seen. Miss jones looms very leverage here is that you dont speak. Doesnt your fault just very good enough to join the phone anyone else in the family the done but show me filter you to fold has been me. Up growth a lot of this town these last 3 or 4 years going to law. School and say the. Very 1st. They said is me to one year administrative segregation and administrative segregation is 23 hour long going to be locked up 23 hours each day you come out for half hour shower and a half hour break i know a bit of olive person. At that time i was treated like one of the worst phone persons in the world i remember going into that cell i believe maybe if i buy a cell. I was dead or close i knew i was going to be there for the next year is just an experience that it is going to make your break you youve got to come out a better person are you going to come out of worship person than you were before you went to. Being in a hole is mirrors and i wouldnt wish on anybody. But you locked up for 23 hours i think you can do it. My words my grandmother just go. Playing over and over again. And those words with the guy i was going to buy me my dog and. You know what i realize who are which really was what i kept hearing because saying i am. My loads. And. I think right there i realized i had reached my lowest point in life and that the only on the way for me to go from here. I know that crime and other criminal 100 already fed up with freedom is right politician for the solution is simple crackdown the reason the criminal Justice System isnt working is that were not sending enough people to jail and keeping there long enough that people are saying general way that they will lock these rascals up and keep them there for a long time during the 1980 s. There was a major shift in the congress and in state legislatures have thout how long sentences should be the public was a long term by increasing rates of crime from the 1970 s. And early eightys and they wanted longer sentences they wanted cracking down and thats what happened across the board for all kinds of crimes not only the mandatory minimum drug sentences effective all the sensing laws was not just to increase the sentences that people were exposed to so that people were serving longer time in prison than they did before it was also to take the discretion away from the sentencing discretion away from judges and juries and shifted over to prosecutors it didnt limit it discretion it just gave prosecutors. The power to determine what your sentence was going to be by making charging decisions and even by bargaining over what the facts of your case were so it didnt mean that discretion it was eliminated from the system it just put the prosecutors in charge. Only or its boring 90. 16 and she was very very shy but by the task that in High School People can sat it in or she played basketball she made good grades high school that we went to was 7th through 12th grade and i was kind of the little tagalong sister. Me and my brother were friends and i mean my sister were friends just kind of watch sure she was. Always really friendly only showing nice this is a small town and Everybody Knows everybody but she got in trouble wed know about it period. I had what i consider an idyllic childhood. And some point when im in college i mean guy that works for southwest times record the newspaper there in fort smith arkansas and he asked me if i would be a subject for him to go out and take some modeling photos we went to like several locations and he instilled in me that i really ought to pursue a modeling career consider my mother says to get you know i mean ralston lived to dallas my gosh no you know mom wants us but she thinking was she going to do it so i think shes going to model so i created a little portfolio before i went to dallas that i could show to the modeling agencies fandy it was well read well traveled well educated graduated Stanford Law School i had gone to princeton Theology School so it was it was very appealing to be around somebody who i was frankly very impressed with and so fascinated with. 8 months later we were getting married at the dallas arboretum and all of our family and friends were there and it was at that point seemed like a dream come true. There were red flags before we got married there were there were frankly there were red flags all along the way sandy has what i consider to be a dual personality you know and that this other care. Would emerge whenever he drank i dont literally had to do something radical. The only remedy to remove him from my life was for me to leave dallas i had to leave dallas and id leave all my friends behind and completely. Move to a different city i am a sadly sandy that he wouldnt leave her i just kept saying you know lets be friends lets be friends he wanted it to be more so he told me that he was going to europe and that i never heard anything for a while word got back to me that hed been arrested. I hadnt been in dallas in over a year so of the only thing i knew to do was to book a flight to dallas to see if i could go through the house listen to the answering machine and try to piece this thing together and eventually think youre going to find out more information and while i was in the dallas house the phone rang and it was sandys german Legal Counsel who had been assigned to the case in germany and at that time he. Gave me very thin details but said that sandy had been arrested for manufacturing ecstasy and that he wanted to reach me and attorney for him there dallas it was a pretty interesting revelation but i did there was money in the safe that was in the house in dallas and i took that money and i retained an attorney to go over and meet with him in germany. 7 months after sandy has been arrested and i pull into the garage of my car as rushed by Law Enforcement