The Clinton Dynasty's Horrific Legacy: More Drug War, More Prisons

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54. "Don't Punish Clinton, Sanders for 1994 Crime Bill"

A very interesting read.

"Don't Punish Clinton, Sanders for 1994 Crime Bill"


"Why did Bill Clinton want a crime bill in the first place? Two reasons. The first was substantive: There was a lot of crime back then. More than double the current rate. There was a legitimate public demand for action."


"Second, Democrats had long been pegged as soft on crime, hampering their electoral prospects. A shadow hanging over the Democrats in the 1992 campaign was the infamous Willie Horton scandal. The losing 1988 Democratic presidential candidate, Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis, was pilloried for a furlough program that allowed the convicted murderer, who was serving a life sentence, to viciously rape a woman and torture her fiancé."


"The bill was not strictly about incarceration. Also included in the $30 billion were funds aimed at crime prevention: community policing, drug treatment and so-called “midnight basketball” leagues to help keep teens out of trouble. The landmark Violence Against Women Act was established in that bill, which has helped reduce domestic violence by two-thirds, a steeper drop than the overall decline in violent crime. And the bill included an assault weapons ban, although congressional Republicans refused to renew it a decade later."Clinton’s efforts to soften the Senate version and include prevention programs won support for the bill from several members of the Congressional Black Caucus. The caucus chairman said at the end of the process, “We have put our stamp on this bill.”

"But the president also had to appease Republicans to compensate for lost Democratic votes. He maintained the crack and powder cocaine disparity (Clinton pushed for reducing the disparity in his second term but got nowhere with the Republican Congress). And he tied funds for state prison construction to the removal of state judicial discretion on sentencing."

"Clinton’s efforts to soften the Senate version and include prevention programs won support for the bill from several members of the Congressional Black Caucus. The caucus chairman said at the end of the process, “We have put our stamp on this bill.”


Clinton also tried to contain the Senate’s more conservative impulses, successfully narrowing the scope of its “three strikes” mandatory life sentence provision in the final version. “We shouldn't litter it up with every offense in the world,” Clinton admonished, saying it should focus on the “relatively small number of people that are wreaking heartbreak and devastation and death.”

more: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2016/02/22/dont_punish_clinton_sanders_for_1994_crime_bill_129729.html