Justice

We Can Build a Better America Together

The United States is home to the world’s largest prison population. As “tough on crime” laws have put an unprecedented number of non-violent offenders behind bars in recent years, our neighborhoods feel no more secure.

The NAACP advocates for smarter, results-based criminal justice policies to keep our communities safe, including treatment for addiction and mental health problems, judicial discretion in sentencing, and an end to racial disparities at all levels of the system.

Please join us. We can build a better America together.

Blog Posts

Posted on December 09, 2011 by Curtis Johnson, Online & Social Media Specialist

A Social Media (R)evolution

With the onset of social media, effective digital advocacy is critical to the NAACP's success. Thanks to our social media supporters, the Troy Davis case was the second-most talked about topic on Twitter during 2011.

Posted on December 01, 2011 by Robert Rooks, Director of the Criminal Justice Department

Stop Making Matters Worse: How Criminalization Perpetuates HIV Transmission

Over the last 40 years, largely as a result of the war on drugs, our nation has increased its prison population nearly 400% and a disproportionate number of those incarcerated are black men. Today, approximately 2.3 million children have an incarcerated parent and 500,000 black fathers are incarcerated. Over-incarceration in the United States plays a significant role in eroding the black family structure and communities are paying the price. What has not been highlighted as much however is that over-incarceration perpetuates HIV transmission in poor communities of color- a lesson I learned many years ago.