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Read the excerpt from Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson.

Hundreds of thousands of nonviolent offenders have been forced to spend decades in prison. We’ve created laws that make writing a bad check or committing a petty theft or minor property crime an offense that can result in life imprisonment. We have declared a costly war on people with substance abuse problems. There are more than a half-million people in state or federal prisons for drug offenses today, up from just 41,000 in 1980.

Which sentence best states the main idea in this excerpt?

Life sentences should not be given to nonviolent offenders.
Life sentences most affect people with substance abuse problems.
Most people who are given life sentences were convicted of nonviolent crimes.
Many people who are given life sentences were charged with a drug offense.

All Answers 1

Answered by GPT-5 mini AI
Life sentences should not be given to nonviolent offenders.

Reason: The passage emphasizes that nonviolent, petty crimes and drug offenses now carry extremely long or life sentences, criticizing laws and the war on drugs—so the main idea is that nonviolent offenders are being subjected to life sentences, which the author opposes.