WE SAT DOWN WITH LAUREN BROOKIZEN TO GET SOME CONTEXT.
SO, 25 YEARS AFTER THE 1994
CRIME BILL WAS ENACTED, WE ARE
STILL HAVING CONVERSATIONS ABOUT
THE IMPORT AND SIGNIFICANCE OF
THE BILL.
THE BILL. >> THAT 1994 CRIME BILL, IT DID
CONTRIBUTE TO MASS INCARCERATION
IN OUR COUNTRY.
>> IT’S IMPORTANT THAT PEOPLE
REMEMBER THE CONTEXT OF THE
POLITICAL ENVIRONMENT IN THE
EARLY 1990s.
EARLY 1990s. >> THE OTHER BIG PIECE OF
LEGISLATION ON CAPITOL HILL
TONIGHT IS THE CRIME BILL.
>> NOW, VIOLENT CRIME PEAKED IN
1991.
1991. AND THE DRAFTERS OF THE BILL
DIDN’T KNOW THAT IN 1993 AND
1994 WHEN THEY WERE DRFTING AND
SIGNING IT.
SIGNING IT. URBAN AREAS AND CITIES ACROSS
THE COUNTRY WERE RAVAGED BY
CRACK-COCAINE AND AMERICANS WERE
AFRAID OF CRIME.
THE 1994 CRIME BILL WAS SIGNED
BY PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON, IT
WAS A PRETTY SIGNIFICANT BILL AT
THE TIME AND PRESIDENT CLINTON
AND SENATOR BIDEN AT THE TIME
WERE RIGHT THAT THE BILL WAS
SIGNIFICANT.
SIGNIFICANT. >> THE MOST SIGNIFICANT FEDERAL
EFFORT TO DEAL WITH VIOLENT
CRIME IN AMERICA THAT HAS EVER
BEEN UNDERTAKEN.
BEEN UNDERTAKEN. >> IT WAS IMPORTANT FOR THE
DEMOCRAT AT THE TIME TO BE SEEN
AS TAKING A SIGNIFICANT ROLE IN
TRYING TO REDUCE CRIME AND
VIOLENCE IN THE UNITED STATES.
AND AT THE TIME, THE
CONGRESSIONAL CAUCUS WAS PART OF
THE DEBATE AROUND THE CRIME
BILL, AND THE CONGRESSIONAL
BLACK CAUCUS DIDN’T WANT EVERY
PROVISION THAT WAS INCLUDED IN
THIS BILL.
THIS BILL. IT BECAME CLEAR THAT THE
PROVISIONS IN THE ’94 CRIME BILL
WERE GOING TO BE A POLITICAL
COMPROMISE AND SO THE HISTORY IS
MUCH MORE COMPLICATED THAN IS
SOMETIMES PORTRAYED BY THE
MEDIA.
MEDIA. >> NOW, WHAT DID THE BILL DO?
>> JUST LIKE A LOT OF POLITICAL
COMPROMISES, THERE WAS A GOOD
AND THERE WAS THE BAD.
FOR EXAMPLE, THE BILL ELIMINATED
19 TYPES OF SEMIAUTOMATIC
ASSAULT WEAPONS.
ASSAULT WEAPONS. IT ALSO PROVIDED HUGE AMOUNTS OF
FUNDING TO HIRE COPS, HUNDREDS
OF THOUSANDS OF COPS WERE
FUNDED, ABOUT $14 MILLION AT THE
TIME FOR POLICING.
THE BILL ALSO ENACTED THE
VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN ACT THAT
PROVIDED
PROVIDED PROVIDED FUNDING TO PROTECT
WOMEN AND VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC
VIOLENCE AND CRIMES AGAINST
WOMEN.
WOMEN. BUT THE MOST PERNICIOUS
PROVISION OF THE 1994 CRIME BILL
WAS A $12 BILLION THAT WAS
AUTHORIZED FOR STATES ACROSS THE
COUNTRY THAT WOULD ENACT WHAT’S
CALLED TRUTH IN SENTENCING LAWS.
THAT FUNDING LITERALLY PAID
STATES TO INCREASE THE NUMBER OF
PRISON BEDS THAT THEY ALLOCATED
FOR INDIVIDUALS CONVICTED OF
VIOLENT CRIME IN THIS COUNTRY.
85% OF THEIR SENTENCES BEHIND
BARS.
BARS. THE REASON THAT PROVISION IS SO
IMPORTANT AND THE REASON WE’RE
STILL TALKING ABOUT IT TODAY IS
THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
ESSENTIALLY SUBS
ESSENTIALLY SUBS ESSENTIALLY SUBSIDIZED STATES
ACROSS THE COUNTRY TO BUILD MORE
PRISONS SO 25 YEARS LATER, THE
CRIME BILL IS --
>> YOU STOOD UP AND USED THAT
TOUGH ON CRIME PHONY RHETORIC.
>> THAT BILL WAS A HUGE MISTAKE.
>> THERE’S NO QUESTION THAT THAT
CRIME BILL CONTRIBUTED TO
AMERICA’S MASS INCARCERATION
PROBLEM.
PROBLEM. >> 1994 CRIME BILL, WE HAD A
GIGANTIC EPIDEMIC IN AMERICA OF
VIOLENCE, PARTICULARLY IN
AFRICAN-AMERICAN COMMUNITIES.
AFRICAN-AMERICAN COMMUNITIES. THE NOTION WAS IT WAS
OVERWHELMING SUPPORTED,
OVERWHELMING SUPPORTED, SUPPORTED BY THE BLACK CAUCUS
AND THE UNITED STATES SENATE BY
AND LARGE.
AND LARGE. >> AND THE REASON THAT THE CRIME
BILL COMES UP SO OFTEN IS, YOU
KNOW, TODAY, IN 2019, IT IS HARD
FOR SO MANY PEOPLE TO UNDERSTAND
WHY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT WOULD
PAY STATES TO INCARCERATE MORE
PEOPLE.
PEOPLE. GIVEN THE CONSEQUENCES THAT WE
KNOW THAT INCARCERATION CAUSES.
BUT AT THE TIME, POLICYMAKERS
FELT THE NEED TO RESPOND TO WHAT
THEY FELT WAS UNCONTROLLED
VIOLENCE AND THIS BILL WAS THE
WAY THAT POLICYMAKERS IN
CONGRESS COULD DO SOMETHING
ABOUT IT.
ABOUT IT. >> VIOLENT CRIME AND THE FEAR IT
PROVOKES ARE CRIPPLING OUR
SOCIETY.
SOCIETY. THE CRIME BILL BEFORE CONGRESS
GIVES YOU A CHANCE TO DO
SOMETHING ABOUT IT.
A CHANCE TO BE TOUGH AND SMART.
>> WE NEED TO EXAMINE THE CRIME
BILL AND ALL OF THE FEDERAL
BILLS THAT GALVANIZED PRISON
SPENDING, THAT GALVANIZED MORE
ARRESTS, MORE INCARCERATION AND
WE NEED TO LOOK TO THE FUTURE.
AND TODAY, THE UNITED STATES
LEADS THE WORLD IN TERMS OF
INCARCERATION.
INCARCERATION. IN FACT, IF EACH STATE WERE ITS
OWN COUNTRY, 23 STATES WOULD
HAVE THE HIGHEST INCARCERATION
RATE IN THE WORLD.
EVERY CANDIDATE RUNNING FOR
ELECTION WHO’S SERIOUS ABOUT
CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM, WHO’S
SERIOUS ABOUT CUTTING THE PRISON
POPULATION BY 50% NEEDS TO TAKE
A HARD LOOK AT WHAT HAS WORKED
AND HASN’T WORKED IN TERMS OF
OUR PAST CRIMINAL JUSTICE POLICY
AND UNDERSTAND THAT FEDERAL
FUNDING TO INCREASE THE NUMBER
OF BEDS IN PRISONS ACROSS THE
COUNTRY IS SIMPLY NOT A WAY TO