The Political Dynamics of Justice Reform in The U.S.

Vox
The Controversial 1994 Crime Law
That Joe Biden Helped Write, Explained
The 1994 “tough on crime” law remains a big topic of debate
in 2020 Democratic debates. Here’s what you need to know.
by German Lopez | Jun 20, 2019, 9:00am ED
One of the most controversial criminal justice issues in the 2020 Democratic primary is
a “tough on crime” law passed 25 years ago — and authored by current poll
frontrunner Joe Biden.
If you ask some criminal justice reform activists, the 1994 crime law passed by
Congress and signed by President Bill Clinton, which was meant to reverse decades of
rising crime, was one of the key contributors to mass incarceration in the 1990s.
They say it led to more prison sentences, more prison cells, and more aggressive
policing — especially hurting black and brown Americans, who are disproportionately
likely to be incarcerated.
If you ask Biden, that’s not true at all. The law, he argued at a recent campaign stop,
had little impact on incarceration, which largely happens at the state level. As recently
as 2016, Biden defended the law, arguing it “restored American cities” following an era
of high crime and violence.
The truth, it turns out, is somewhere in the middle.
The 1994 crime law was certainly meant to increase incarceration in an attempt to crack
down on crime, but its implementation doesn’t appear to have done much in that area.
And while the law had many provisions that are now considered highly controversial,
some portions, including the Violence Against Women Act and the assault weapons
ban, are fairly popular among Democrats.
That’s how politicians like Biden, as well as fellow presidential candidate Sen. Bernie
Sanders (I-VT), can now justify their votes for the law — by pointing to the provisions
that weren’t “tough on crime.”
But with Biden’s criminal justice record coming under scrutiny as he runs for
president, it’s the mass incarceration provisions that are drawing particular attention as
a key example of how Biden helped fuel the exact same policies that criminal justice
reformers are trying to reverse.
For some Democrats, the 1994 law is exhibit A for why Biden can’t be trusted to do the
right thing on criminal justice issues should he become president.
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