The Royall House & Slave Quarters is co-sponsoring the Confronting Racial Injustice Series of five monthly programs hosted by the Massachusetts Historical Society and Northeastern University Law School’s Criminal Justice Task Force. Today’s topic is “The War on Drugs in Massachusetts: The Racial Impact of the School Zone Law and Other Mandatory Minimum Sentences.”

In the 1980s, Massachusetts embraced the War on Drugs, enacting harsh mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent drug offenses. It took decades to confront the reality that, in addition to being ineffective and costly, mandatory minimums resulted in the pervasive and disproportionate incarceration of Black and brown people. Panelists will discuss this troubling history, recent reforms, and the prospects for implementing drug policies that are effective, fair, and just.

Panelists will be State Sen. William N. Brownsberger; Abrigal Forrester, Center for Teen Empowerment; Rahsaan D. Hall, ACLU of Massachusetts; Deborah A. Ramirez, Northeastern University School of Law; and moderator Hon. Sydney Hanlon.

Admission is free, but registration is required through the Massachusetts Historical Society website: https://www.masshist.org/calendar/series/confronting-racial-injustice

Next month’s concluding program in this series, on June 9, will address the Charles Stuart story.