Our justice system is, to say the least, unjust. One of the many foundations for our country is equality. Yet it seems this system aims to do just the opposite. I won't bore you with the facts, because our country is fully aware of what is happening here.

First off, African-Americans, especially males, are disproportionately sentenced to longer and harsher sentences. Our court systems have a tendancy to throw every single black man who walks into a court room behind bars. This NAACP website states that if blacks and Hispanics were incarcerated at the same rate as whites, prison populations would decrease by 50 percent. They are also sentenced to the same time for drug crimes that a white would get for a violent crime.

Why?

I would also like to point out that African-Americans are sent to prison for drug offenses 10 times the rate of whites, but whites are five times more likely to use drugs than the African-American.

Second off, there are Americans serving life sentences for non-violent drug possession crimes. Life sentences for crimes where the victim was himself. My question here is, isn't our tax payer money better spent on getting these people into substance-abuse treatment, where we can help them? Instead, we throw them behind bars, where they have little to no chance of getting a job, or finding a decent place to live once they get out. These chances are also significantly decreased if you aren't white.

Third, two individuals who do the same crime can receive two completely different sentences. I personally think that is absolutely unjust. It shouldn't matter where you live or what color skin you have. If I, a white, 20-year-old female, walk into a gas station in Fargo, North Dakota, and rob the place, I should get the same sentence as the 50-year-old male Asian in Chicago who commits the same crime.

I am not condoning criminal behaviors of any kind. I'm simply trying to point out that our justice system has failed over and over again.

We are the "greatest" nation, yet we have the highest rate of incarcerated people in the world. We spend millions of dollars every year to keep operating prisons, $70 billion to be exact.

A conversation about a criminal justice reform is long overdue.

This chart makes it clear that ending the War on Drugs will not end mass incarceration on its own. If states, and the federal government as a whole, made changes to this policy, we could see an effective reduction of the populations behind bars.

We need to first focus our attention to the federal government where they can use their financial and law amending powers to change the fate of these individuals. This powerful body has the resources to change the policies.

Next, we need to look at the court system. These judges, sheriffs and district attorneys are clearly misusing their power to justify the amount of time two separate people should serve for the same crime.

And lastly we need to look at ourselves. As parents of our children, we need to begin to raise more competent and civil citizens who know and understand it is wrong to break the law. A life behind bars in not a life at all. Instill your children with love and compassion and they (hopefully) won't feel the need to commit crimes.