Table 2.

Exposure Text and Images (Variations in text indicated with bolded text)

PUBLIC SAFETY CONSEQUENCE FRAME (Group 2, 5, 8) Word Count: 229 Currently almost half a million Americans are incarcerated for drug crimes, many with lengthy sentences for non-violent offenses. While people should be held accountable for their actions, giving harsh prison sentences for non-violent drug crimes is not an effective way to reduce crime. Research shows that arresting individuals for low-level, non-violent drug crimes has little effect on crime in the community. Studies show that increasing the length of prison sentences for non-violent crimes does not influence whether someone will commit a crime after they are released. Over the past three decades, several policies were passed to increase the severity of punishment for non-violent drug crimes, but these did not result in significant declines in drug-related crime rates. Simply put, unnecessarily long prison sentences for non-violent drug crimes do not make sense if the goal is improving public safety. After a person is released from prison, it is often very difficult to find stable employment, which can make it hard to have enough money to pay for food or a place to live. Challenges around employment, housing and hunger can affect people’s ability to get back on their feet. This is bad for public safety. When individuals are put in a desperate financial situation and are unable to support themselves after being released from prison, they are more likely to turn to crime as a way to make ends meet.
SOCIAL JUSTICE CONSEQUENCE FRAME (Group 3,6,9) Word Count: 229 Currently almost half a million Americans are incarcerated for drug crimes, many with lengthy sentences for non-violent offenses. While people should be held accountable for their actions, giving harsh prison sentences for non-violent drug crimes disproportionately and unfairly affects vulnerable Americans. Research shows that people of color and those with low-incomes are more often subject to severe prison sentences than other groups. Studies show that even though people of all races report using and selling drugs at similar rates, black Americans are nearly 6.5 times as likely as white Americans to be incarcerated for drug offenses. Low income people are more likely to be unable to afford legal representation and more likely to be sent to prison than higher income people. Simply put, unnecessarily long prison sentences for non-violent drug crimes fall disproportionately on low income and non-white groups and are unjust. After a person is released from prison, it is often very difficult to find stable employment, which can make it hard to have enough money to pay for food or a place to live. Challenges around employment, housing and hunger can affect people’s ability to get back on their feet. This is bad in terms of fairness. When individuals are put in a desperate financial situation and are unable to support themselves after being released from prison, society further increases the hardships already faced by vulnerable individuals.
IMPACT ON CHILDREN CONSEQUENCE FRAME (Group 4, 7, 10) Word Count: 230 Currently almost half a million Americans are incarcerated for drug crimes, many with lengthy sentences for non-violent offenses. While people should be held accountable for their actions, giving harsh prison sentences for non-violent drug crimes negatively affects children. Research shows that children who have a parent in prison suffer negative consequences while their parent is incarcerated and after their parent is released. Studies show that children with an incarcerated parent are more likely to have poor health and social relationships during and after their parents’ incarceration, compared to their peers without a parent in jail or prison. These social and emotional problems have also been associated with poor school performance and higher dropout rates, and can have long lasting negative affects into adulthood. Simply put, unnecessarily long prison sentences for non-violent drug crimes have major, long term negative consequences on children. After a person is released from prison, it is often very difficult to find stable employment, which can make it hard to have enough money to pay for food or a place to live. Challenges around employment, housing and hunger can affect people’s ability to get back on their feet. This is bad for their children. When individuals are put in a desperate financial situation and are unable to support themselves after being released from prison, they will be unable to provide food or safe housing for their children.
SYMPATHETIC NARRATIVE (Groups 5,6,7,8,9,10) Word Count: 484 Today David Waller is celebrating his birthday with his son Michael and Michael’s daughter and wife. David feels fortunate that he lives near his son, visits with him often and gets to see his granddaughter grow up. Ten years ago, David’s son was in a very different place. When Michael was 21, he was badly injured at work on a construction site. His doctor treated him with OxyContin, a prescription opioid medication, for the pain. Michael continued to use the pain pill for some time, and David began to notice a change in his son. Michael continued to feel like he needed the medication even after his injury healed. When he ran out of pills, he felt anxious, sweaty and nauseous, and had problems sleeping. When his doctor refused to prescribe more medication, Michael began buying and occasionally selling pills for money. David slowly began to realize that his son had developed an addiction. At one point, David even found out that Michael had used heroin when he ran low on money, because heroin was cheaper than pills. David tried everything he could think of to get help for Michael, including getting him on a waiting list for an addiction treatment program. David was heartbroken when Michael was caught selling pills and convicted of a felony. Michael was subject to a state law requiring a mandatory sentence for his crime and spent the next five years of his life in prison. Since leaving prison, Michael has worked hard to get his life back on track. After he was released, David helped Michael enter a drug treatment program, which has helped Michael stay drug-free. David is incredibly proud of Michael, but it makes him sad to see how his son has been haunted by his felony drug conviction. David watched Michael apply for over 60 jobs without success. Michael was ashamed to have to rely on his father for financial support to help pay his bills, especially because David also lived paycheck to paycheck. Michael finally got a break after David’s friend hired him to work in his store. That was over three years ago, and since then Michael done well in this job, married and become a father. David joined a support group for parents of people who have struggled with drug addiction and being a part of this group has helped him understand that the struggles his son faced getting on his feet were not unique. In fact, many of the stories he hears from the other parents about the challenges their adult children have faced after being released from prison are even worse. Many are unable to find jobs and struggle financially when they return home. David is thankful that his son was able to find a good, stable job to support his family. He knows that many people like Michael who served time for non-violent drug felonies are not so lucky.
EXPOSURE IMAGE OF NARRATIVE SUBJECT Included in-line with narrative with caption: Michael Waller
(Groups 5,6,7)	(Groups 8, 9, 10)