After Life

Before Clarence Aaron was sentenced to life in prison for charges related to crack cocaine, he was a 23-year-old linebacker at Southern University at Baton Rouge. Strapped for cash, he decided to make extra money by introducing two sets of friends who were both in the drug business. For this, Aaron was paid $1,500. He never got involved with weapons or violence, and he says he never handled the drugs himself. But each of his co-conspirators testified against him, pinning 24 kg–more than 50 lb.–of cocaine on the former Boy Scout. Federal sentencing guidelines for drugs were extremely harsh in the 1990s, and Aaron was sentenced to three concurrent life sentences, far more time than anyone else involved.

Aaron was supposed to die in prison, but a decision by President Obama made it so that he did not have to. On Dec. 19, 2013, Aaron and seven other nonviolent drug offenders found out their sentences were commuted. For the Obama Administration, Aaron’s case was a clear example of the human cost of the harsh laws of the war-on-drugs era, particularly for citizens of color. Obama has since shortened the sentences of 774 prisoners, more than the past 10 Presidents combined, and pushed for legislation that would reduce the prison population by 17,000 between 2017 and 2021. The moves were intended to close a chapter of American history that overcrowded prisons and tattered the social fabric of urban communities. But for the individuals, release into society is one step, albeit a big one, in a lengthy struggle to readjust.

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