This past Nov. 10, 46 men and women were released from a variety of prisons across America. As part of his ongoing effort to reform the nation’s prison system, Obama has personally commuted, or reduced, the length of these individuals’ sentences. Over the past year, Obama has granted 89 commutations to prisoners charged with nonviolent crimes, and has over the course of his presidency reduced more sentences than any president since Lyndon Johnson. Of the 46 individuals currently released from prison by Obama’s decision, the majority were serving sentences of at least 20 years, and fourteen of them were sentenced to life. Their release resulted from an announcement made by the President last year, where he encouraged defense lawyers to report cases that he may be able to pardon or commute. While Obama’s decision to reduce sentences of 89 nonviolent prisoners is commendable, it does not lessen his or Congress’s responsibility to instate large-scale prison reform measures. The American prison system is in desperate need of reform—it is violating basic human (and primarily minority) rights, cultivating a community of repeat offenders, and draining the country’s resources. With roughly 500 prisoners for every 100,000 citizens, the United States has the highest global incarceration rate. As of last year, America was home to approximately 2.4 million prisoners—a staggering number, especially if you look at the demographic divide of these individuals. Currently, almost 40 percent of people in American jails have not been convicted of any crimes and are awaiting trial. These individuals, who range from immigrant detainees to American citizens unable to post bail, often are forced to wait months in jail before their sentencing. What’s more concerning is that over than 20 percent are acquitted of all charges when they finally do go to court. Our criminal justice system is racist against minorities, in particular Latino and Black communities. People of color comprise roughly 30 percent of our population but 60 percent of our prison population. One in every 36 Hispanic men is in prison, compared with 1 in every 106 white men. As a result of the War on Drugs, which Obama himself has referred to as "unproductive", 37 percent of all African American currently in prison have drug related sentences (although the demographic only constitutes 14 percent of regular drug users). Each year, approximately 80 million dollars of taxpayer money is funneled directly into the continuance of this outdated, racist, and wasteful prison system.So what can be done about all of this?We need to demand an immediate change to our prison system. It’s unacceptable that one in three black men will go to jail at some point in their lives. It’s inadmissible that our youth prison population has more than doubled in the past 25 years.Amongst the injustice in the prison system, there still is hope. We can support acts such as the “Smarter Sentencing Act”, which strives to reduce the sentencing of nonviolent individuals, particularly people of color. The Act is currently pending in both the House and the Senate, but for Congress to give the act the attention it deserves, we need to make it clear that prison reform matters to the American people.Vote for politicians who are dedicated to implementing a system based on equality, not racist prejudices. Presidential candidates from both parties, ranging from Republican candidate Rand Paul, to Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders, have promised improvement to the prison system if elected. At the same time, candidates Donald Trump, Ben Carson, and Ted Cruz have remained quiet on the subject. We need to foster a society where prison reform is a hotly debated subject, and then a rigorously pursued area of reform. As Obama noted on his tour of Oklahoma’s state prison this past summer, “The difference [between myself and the prisoners] is they did not have the kind of support structures, the second chances, the resources that would allow them to survive those mistakes.” This article was written by Lizzy Leclaire. Send an email to [email protected] to get in touch. Photo Credit: Babawawa on Pixabay.