The New Faces of Mass Incarceration by Brishon Bond

A mayor, a prosecutor, and a cop walk into a bar…..

No punchline.   Can’t think of one.

I can’t think of one because quite honestly nothing about what these three are doing in the city of Indianapolis is funny.  In fact, it’s quite the opposite of humorous when we stop and look at what their stated goals relating to African American males in central Indiana actually are.

And make no mistake about it, their press conference  announcing a process to cage, control, and dispose of a group of folk they call “felons” has a laser-like focus on Black and Brown bodies.

Let us take a real look at this “new” program, it’s origins, how it will be enacted locally, and why in reality, it is a decades long, often failed policy that will not  reduce violent crime in our city one percentage point.

State Prosecutions

In the state of Indiana, a person can be charged and prosecuted for carrying a firearm without a license.  Indiana Code 35-47-2-1 articulates that the unlicensed carrying of a gun is a class A misdemeanor.   That misdemeanor can be enhanced to a more serious charge if the person is accused of carrying the gun within a certain proximity to a school, if the person has a previous conviction for carrying a handgun without a permit, or if she or he has a previous felony conviction on their record not dating back further than fifteen years.

Charges can be enhanced even further if the person alleged to be in possession of the weapon has been categorized as a “serious, violent, felon.”  With this designation, via a previous conviction of specific crimes, the charge can be enhanced to a level four felony, which is punishable by up to twelve years in prison.  Similar laws can be found all across the United States.

Apparently, these state laws/prosecutions proved unsatisfactory to men like the three aforementioned from central Indiana.  In order to understand why, one must take a look back at the origins of federal gun prosecutions, and follow them throughout history all the way up to today.

The Origin of Federal Gun Laws

Up until the mid to late sixties, federal gun laws in the United States were virtually nonexistent.  However, following the assassinations of Dr. King, and the Kennedy brothers, Congress passed the Gun Control Act of 1968.  This act laid the necessary framework for nationwide regulations on sales, and possession of firearms.   What we now know as the Federal Firearms License (FFL), which allows sellers of guns to transact across state lines, originated via this law.  It also addressed selling weapons to the mentally incompetent, prohibited those with convictions of domestic violence to have a gun, and clarified the prohibition of non citizens to carry a firearm, among many other things.

Although initially well meaning, these, like most laws in America, would eventually turn their primary focus to hoods and barrios all across the country.  This didn’t occur for another fifteen or so years.   But in order to properly narrate how it happened, two words must be injected into the discussion:

Reagan & Crack

In the eighties, crack cocaine was upending the nation.   Particularly in communities of color.  In order to deal with the scourge of drugs and the havoc being wreaked upon these neighborhoods, the federal government did what it always does to minorities: bring down the hammer.  The Comprehensive Crime Control Act, and The Armed Career Criminal Act were both enacted into law by Congress in 1984.   Their goal was to enhance the sentences of certain defendants who fit specific criteria.  Among the enhancements were:

• A mandatory five year enhancement for carrying a firearm during commission of drug trafficking.
• A fifteen year enhancement for someone with three previous violent felony convictions.
• A thirty year enhancement for a crime committed with, or while in possession of, certain types of weapons (sawed off shotguns, fully-automatic weapons, firearms equipped with a silencer, etc.)

Project Achilles

In order to add law enforcement teeth to these new federal laws, the Department of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) enacted “Project Achilles” , a new program designed to federally charge individuals and if convicted, send them to prison for extremely long sentences.   Using the newly enacted federal laws, ATF agents began partnering with local law enforcement to move cases from their traditional place in the state system, to federal courts.  The results were sweeping.  Thousands of African American and Latino males were sentenced to ten, twenty, and thirty years in the penitentiary.

Project Triggerlock

In the nineties, this tactic metamorphosed into its next stage of mass incarceration.  This iteration, was called “Project Triggerlock.”  Under President Bush, and his Attorney General Richard Thornburgh, federal prosecutors around the country were instructed to actively seek out state cases that fit the criteria for federal prosecution, and upon discovering said cases, they were to “take” them from state prosecutors and move them over into federal court where the sentences would be far harsher.

Project Exile 

In 1997, a new version of Triggerlock emerged.   While never implemented nationwide, this design came to be hailed as one of the biggest success stories in the fight against violent crime.  Nowadays one cannot talk about federal firearms prosecutions without hearing praise for Project Exile .   Created in the Eastern District of Richmond, Virginia, it’s mission was clear:  ALL handgun cases that met the criteria would be federally prosecuted.   The selling points of Project Exile were threefold:

• Defendants charged federally, in many instances, could be held without bail.
• Mandatory minimum sentences would be handed out.
• Instead of serving time in state prisons located near Richmond, Va., those convicted would be “exiled” to federal penal institutions in other states far away from community and family.  (No really, that was one of the stated goals of this project: the exiling of U.S. Citizens.)

The area where Project Exile was implemented saw a significant drop in violent crime.   The numbers are as follows:

• Richmond, Virginia had 139 homicides in 1997.
• The first full year that Project Exile was implemented (1998), that number dropped to 94.
• Homicide numbers in Richmond have continued to decline, and are now similar to national averages of comparable cities with populations of approximately 200,000 people.

It would appear that Project Exile deserves the credit for Richmond’s decline in homicides.  However, a closer review leaves this claim in serious doubt.  First, 139 murders in a city of 220,000 people is an unusually high number for one year.  Many criminologists concluded that the dip in homicides would have happened with or without Project Exile.   They point to the nationwide decrease in violent crime that was occurring in cities that had no such program.  It should also be noted that other cities such as Rochester, New York adopted the program following the purported success in Virginia.   As with crime trends in general, murder rates in that city continued to rise and fall in years following the implementation of the program.  Most cities eventually abandoned Project Exile for two main reasons: The program was shown to unequivocally focus on, and over-incarcerate black men, and no one could quantify its efficacy in fighting violent crime.

There is no definitive answer on whether Project Exile deserves all or any of the credit for crime reduction in Virginia.   While there have been studies conducted which concluded that it DID  play a significant role in the decrease in murders, there have been an equal number which say it DID NOT.

However, what is irrefutable is that Project Exile served as the template for what we are facing in Indianapolis today.

Project Safe Neighborhoods

“This nation must enforce the gun laws which exist on the books.  Project Safe Neighborhoods incorporates and builds upon the success of existing programs.   In Richmond, Virginia, for example, during the first year of what’s known as Project Exile, homicides were reduced by 40 percent.”   Those were the words of President George Bush in 2001 as he announced the creation of Project Safe Neighborhoods.  Seeking to capitalize on the fame that Project Exile generated, and incorporating the same ineffective methodology, this newest iteration was supposed to be the magic button that would wipe out violent crime simply by waiving cases over to the FEDS.  Just like it’s forefathers, it has proved to be be racially biased, and woefully ineffective in reducing homicides.   Yet it was implemented all across the country, and championed by then Attorney General John Ashcroft who directed federal prosecutors to partner with ATF agents, state prosecutors, and local police to ramp up federal charges against those who were facing state charges.   Thus, the nationwide initiative to EXILE black and brown folk began.

The Obama Administration and Project Safe Neighborhoods

From his inauguration in 2009, President Obama worked on criminal justice reform.  As the first sitting president to ever visit a prison, one of the staples of his administration was his unquestionable attempt to reform the way America sees our brothers and sisters who are incarcerated, as well as the biased way in which federal prosecutions are conducted.   “The United States accounts for five percent of the world’s population, yet we account for twenty five percent of the world’s inmates.  That represents a huge surge since 1980.”  With those words, articulated while standing in a cell house at the El Reno Federal Penitentiary, President Obama clarified his view of the broken system.  While his powers as President were limited in terms of state prosecutions, and the number of incarcerated folk in state prison, he could change the way federal prosecutions were handled; particularly those federal gun prosecutions made under the umbrella of Project Safe Neighborhoods.

And that’s just what he did.

“Now, nearly a decade since Project Safe Neighborhoods was created, we’ve reached an important point for for updating our goals, for modernizing and refocusing our strategies, and for compiling the latest and best thinking we have on the most effective, and most economically viable, ways to reduce crime and to build safe, vibrant and productive communities.”   Those were the words of Attorney General Eric Holder, made at the annual Project Safe Neighborhoods Luncheon back in 2010.  They reflected a clear change in the direction of the Department of Justice and it’s approach to federal prosecutions.  As the nation’s top prosecutor, his responsibility was to enforce the laws on the books, but the Obama administration clarified the direction Holder’s office was to go in, and it wasn’t going to include exiling every black or brown man who was being prosecuted in state court, but technically met the threshold for federal prosecution.   In that same speech, AG Holder went on to say: “First we must call attention not only to the symptoms, but also to the causes of violence.  Robust enforcement efforts must incorporate a focus on prevention and an effort to understand the root causes of violent crime.”  The writer of this article has searched diligently to find record of another Attorney General in the history of the United States who was willing to use the phrase “root causes of violent crime.”  That search proved unsuccessful.

Among the changes to Project Safe Neighborhoods the Obama Administration enacted to address those root causes were:

• 37 million for research, resources, and services directed at children who are exposed to violence.
• 12 million for youth gang violence.
• 100 million for reentry programs.
• 67 million for the Comprehensive School Safety Initiative that focused on disrupting the school to prison pipeline.

Federal prosecutions for gun possession dropped significantly during the eight years of the Obama Administration.   Not because people were going unpunished, but because the overwhelming majority of those cases belonged in state court, and that’s where they remained.

MAGA

“You can go to war zones in countries that we are fighting and it is safer than living in some of our inner cities…..we’ll get rid of the crime. You’ll be able to walk down the street without getting shot.  Now, you walk down the street, you get shot.”  That was the campaign pitch of then Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.   This type of rhetoric, which labeled majority-minority communities as “war zones” would be repeated throughout the duration of the campaign.   Indeed, even after winning the election, President Trump continued this narrative at his inauguration:  “the crime, the gangs and the drugs.  This American carnage stops right here and stops right now,”  It was clear that for communities of color, the labeling of ‘war zones’ filled with ‘American carnage’ would be the lens through with this administration would view them and their issues.

Jeff Sessions, William Barr and the Project Safe Neighborhoods Remix

With crime, carnage, and war zones as the narrative, it doesn’t require a genius to predict what Project Safe Neighborhoods would look like in the era of President Trump.  Whatever modifications that were made by President Obama, and Attorney Generals Loretta Lynch and Eric Holder, were firebombed when Jeff Sessions was confirmed as the nation’s top prosecutor.

“We have a duty to take action……Fortunately, we have a President who understands that and has directed his administration to reduce crime.  The Department of Justice today announces the foundation of our plan to reduce crime: prioritizing Project Safe Neighborhoods, a program that has been proven to work.”  Those were the words of Attorney General Jeff Sessions in a memo released by the Department of Justice entitled “Attorney General Sessions announces reinvigoration of Project Safe Neighborhoods and other actions to reduce rising tide of violent crime.”  Those remarks suggest that Project Safe Neighborhoods wasn’t a priority under the previous administration.  A more accurate description would be that resources in the Project Safe Neighborhoods war chest, which the Obama administration had used to fund re entry programs, youth gang intervention, and curbing the school to prison pipeline, would be redirected.  AG Sessions, in the aforementioned memo outlined how those funds would be rerouted:

• Funding to hire more federal prosecutors.
• Funding to hire more police officers.
• Funding to expand the ATF.

And now there is Session’s replacement, William Barr:

“..they have to start showing, more than they do, the respect and support that law enforcement deserves ― and if communities don’t give that support and respect, they might find themselves without the police protection they need.”

Not much more needs to said about that.  Some words and sentiments regarding how one sees black and brown communities, speaks for itself.

This is the current environment of the Department of Justice.  These are the people, President Trump, Jeff Sessions, and now William Barr, who are in control of Project Safe Neighborhoods.

A mayor, a prosecutor, and a cop walk into a bar

Which brings us back to the press conference where Mayor Joe Hogsett, stood with Fraternal Order of Police President Rick Snyder, and United States District Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana, Josh Minkler, as he announced the plan to file federal charges against anyone who is in unlawful possession of a firearm.   Even though the three of them stood there and gave the impression that this was a new initiative, which would be utilized in response to the rising homicides, that suggestion was a lie.  A simple review of the facts will illustrate that Project Safe Neighborhoods has been practiced in Indianapolis for years.  And under the direction of President Trump, Attorney Generals Jeff Sessions, and William Barr, these racially biased prosecutions have been occurring once again here in Indianapolis since 2017.

“Josh J. Minkler, the United States Attorney, announced the Attorney General’s renewed commitment and dedication to stemming the gun violence epidemic through the launch of Project Safe Neighborhoods 2.0 (PSN).”  Those were the words of a press release entitled “Project Safe Neighborhoods 2.0.”, where United States Southern District of Indiana Federal Prosecutor Josh Minkler outlined the renewed focus of his office to charge as many people as possible with federal gun crimes.  This press release was made back in 2018.  So why would that same federal prosecutor stand at a podium in 2020 and announce a “new program” that will eradicate violent crime, when the facts show that this program has been in practice again since 2017 with no reductions in homicides?

Money and Votes, plain and simple.

Along with locking people of color up, Project Safe Neighborhoods is big bucks (no whammies), for cities that embrace the federal government’s furtherance of The New Jim Crow of mass incarceration.   Below is a list of entities in the city of Indianapolis, and the amount they received back in 2018 as a result of our city participating in Project Safe Neighborhoods.  The numbers can be verified here.

• Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department received: $798,000
• The Hogsett Administration received: $456,891
• The John H. Boner Community Center received: $999,913 (read that again!)
• Indiana Criminal Justice Institute received: $421,952
• Marion County Prosecutor’s Office: $277,968

Locking folks up and exiling them in federal penitentiaries is a very lucrative enterprise.  With little to no accountability regarding what was done with these funds to increase public safety, and improve the lives of the most marginalized citizens of Indianapolis, Project Safe Neighborhoods has come into communities of color and swept up hundreds of men and separated them from their families.  And here’s the kicker:

PROJECT SAFE NEIGHBORHOODS DOES NOT WORK!!!

Nevermind all the data which has shown over and over that the threat of harsher sentences, including federal charges or even the death penalty, does little to reduce crime, one simply has to look at the homicide rates here in Indianapolis to determine the efficacy of Project Safe Neighborhoods.  In reviewing the following statistics it is important to remember that Donald Trump was elected President in 2016, and was sworn in back in January of 2017.   Here are the numbers for Indianapolis since the Trump administration reactivated this part of the program:

• 2017 155 homicides (city record)
• 2018 159 homicides (city record)
• 2019 154 homicides
• 2020 48 homicides (as of 4/17)   compare that with homicide numbers for the same time last year 4/17/2019 there were only 37 homicides, which indicates the possibility for another record breaking year.

If the solution to the record breaking number of people killed in Indianapolis is simply to charge black and brown men with federal weapons charges and then exile them to penitentiaries hundreds of miles away from their homes, then that brilliant solution would be reflected in the homicide numbers wouldn’t it?

Shhh… don’t answer.   That question was rhetorical.

Two years ago Michelle Alexander, author of The New Jim Crow came to Butler University and gave a moving talk on the intersections of race, poverty, and crime.  She articulated the process by which American systems, rooted in white supremacy, never really went away: they simply remade themselves.  That phenomenon of “remaking” in order to maintain these broken systems can be seen in federal prosecutions:

• Project Achilles
• Project Triggerlock
• Project Exile
• Project Safe Neighborhoods

After the discussion, Mayor Hogsett came onto stage and gave some closing remarks about the criminal justice system in America.  He spoke of the inequities that plague the system.  He spoke about the disparities in arrests and sentencing when looking at how African Americans are treated compared to Whites.  He closed by articulating how that has to change, and how all of Indianapolis and its citizens are “one city.”

Then last year, prior to the mayoral election, he stood on stage in a room full of community stakeholders and assured them that although he didn’t have a specific “black agenda”, he was well aware of the concerns held by the African American community, and was committed to continue fighting for those concerns in a way that achieved equity, inclusion, and fairness.

Finally, after being reelected by the most loyal voting block in the history of America, he stood on another stage.  This time, it wasn’t with Michelle Alexander.  This time he wasn’t in a room full of African Americans.  This time he stood with the far right wing president of the police union.  An individual who had successfully created a narrative which falsely claimed that the violent crime in Indianapolis was being committed by those released on house arrest.  This time he also stood with the federal prosecutor of the Southern District, who had been given his marching orders straight from Attorney General William “blacks better show appreciation for law enforcement or they will find themselves without police protection” Barr, and President Donald “blacks are living in a war zone” Trump.  This time mayor Hogsett stood with those men, and unflinchingly announced that mass incarceration would continue: with his blessing.

I sat in the front row during the event with Michelle Alexander and the mayor.  I actually stood and applauded when he spoke with such conviction about undercutting the inequities in our criminal justice system.

Hey Mr. Mayor: I ain’t clapping anymore.

Until next time, Peace 2fingers