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Since the 1980s, the U.S. criminal justice system has been plagued by mass incarceration that has devastated people's lives. Statistics show that "while the United States represents nearly 5 percent of the world's population, it has more than 20 percent of the world's prison population, the number of women sent to prison increased by 646 percent. One in eight boys is expected to go to prison" (ACLU). However, nearly two-thirds of incarcerated women and children are incarcerated for non-violent, low-level offenses. This is brutal, but the motivation behind it is even more horrifying. Stevenson said building prisons brought benefits to the state, and incarceration became the answer to everything - drug addicts, poor people who couldn't afford to pay, managing mentally disabled people, and undocumented immigrants - and the solution was to put people in prison. These problems have thus contributed to mass incarceration. Mass incarceration has serious consequences in society. First, the biggest consequences are that it tears apart families. Mass incarceration hurts people of color, According to statistics, "Mass incarceration rates in the United States are currently 5.6 times higher for Blacks compared to incarceration rates for White Americans. There is also a serious problem that is costing taxpayers $260 billion each year and directly impacts society. While the consequences of mass incarceration are very serious, our solution to it is simple, it’s "mercy". People need mercy, they all need justice, and maybe people need a chance to show that they have changed. One way to effectively reduce mass incarceration is to reduce the amount of time spent in prison for low-level crimes." The Obama administration took an initiative in 2010 to reduce time spent on drug charges by 'lowering the average sentence from 12 years to 10 years.' However, despite more prisoners being released, recidivism rates have barely increased." What we need are more initiatives like this. Mass incarceration is brutal, but it is encouraging that mass incarceration nationwide is finally slowing down.