I am writing as a part of Equal Justice Initiative(EJI) to draw your attention to a matter of grave importance According to National Association for the Advancement of Colored People(NAACP), the United States of America has the highest mass incarceration rates of any country in the world; a staggering 2.3 million people, nearly 1 million of which are African American, are imprisoned in 6,000 different correctional facilities across the nation Questions have been raised about whether the punishment fits the crime, since the government has been following the “tough on crime” policy since the 19805. One out of every five incarcerated person in America is locked up on drug related chargest There are more people behind bars today in the United States for a drug offense than there were in 1980 for all offenses combined. According to Bryan Stevenson, a lawyer, founder of El] and author of the book “Just Mercy”, one of every nine prisoners are wrongfully convicted.
There is an abundance of incarcerations and racial injustices going on even in this era. We want this “outrageous norm” to change and that is what EJI, a non-profit organization, is working to do. It was established by Bryan Stevenson in 1994 to fight for people, both children and adults, who have been wrongly convicted, excessively punished, or abused on prison grounds, Our staff, each of us deeply inspired by his struggle for these people and to keep this organization whole and standing, has been dedicated to helping incarcerated in need We have worked for those who were deprived ofjustice simply because of their poverty and race and have succeeded in some cases Also, there are tens of thousands of people who go to jail without ever talking to a lawyer or going to a trial, merely because they cannot afford to pay for it 80% of defendants cannot afford a lawyer while the nation and the state ensures prisoners stay in jails longer; private prison builders live by that goal because it gets them more profits.
According to Prison Policy Initiative, the average inmate in minimum-security federal prison costs $20,000 yearly while it is $30,000 in maximum»security federal prison Almost $80 billion are spent on corrections annually. With the money being spent on keeping people behind bars, we need more people on the outside to help the poor defend themselves in court, and to receive punishments befitting their crime. Honestly, all that you’ve done to help people you have never met before, is so remarkable I know you will understand how much pain these people experience. EJI has a 100 out of 100 score on financial accountability and transparency as ranked by Charity Navigator, a charity watchdog that evaluates charitable organizations in the United States So, every cent you donate goes to help the incarcerated The Michael and Susan Dell Foundation has done much for children in need.
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Mrs. Dell has been ranked 5′” out of 15 top women philanthropists by Inside Philanthropy 1 know you feel the same ache in your heart as I do when you read about the children who have been tried as adults, wrongly convicted, abused in prison, and kept in solitary confinement, such as Ian Manuel and George Stinneyi The United States is the one of the few countries in the world that sentences people under eighteen to die behind bars. They have been sentenced to life imprisonment without parole in maximum or minimum security prisons, instead of juvenile prisons, According to El], “Some 10,000 children are in adult jails or prisons in any given day in America.” People say a few dollars do not count, but those few dollars donated by thousands of people can have amazing results, The highest donation we‘ve received is $1 million by the Lavine Family and we are beyond grateful for their contribution, There’s a saying that goes, “As long as we have anything, we owe something to those who have nothing”.
