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Bernie Fighting Against Mass Incarceration in Congress 1991:
Tell me more about this “crime prevention bill”.
There were several “crime bills” proposed in the early 1990s. The 1991 bill that Bernie is talking about in the above video was an earlier version of the bill that was eventually signed into law. Introduced by Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE) and signed by President Bill Clinton, The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (commonly referred to as “the Crime Bill”) was the largest crime bill in U.S. history providing for almost $10 billion in funding for prisons and $6 billion for crime prevention programs, among many other controversial provisions such as mandatory minimum sentencing and bans on certain assault weapons.
Did the bill work to reduce crime?
As mentioned above, most studies find that “tough on crime” laws only slightly decrease crime rates at the expense of devastating low-income communities of color. The National Academy of Sciences published an impressive, comprehensive study on the effects of increased incarceration on crime rates. They found “only a modest relationship between incarceration and lower crime rates.” For more info on the effects of mass incarceration, see above.
What did Bernie have to say about the bill at the time?
As seen in the above video, Bernie denounced an earlier version of the bill as “a punishment bill, a retribution bill, a vengeance bill.” He has always maintained that instead of putting our money into prisons, we should attack the root of crime by investing more in education and economic development.
There were several “crime bills” proposed in the early 1990s. The 1991 bill that Bernie is talking about in the above video was an earlier version of the bill that was eventually signed into law. Introduced by Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE) and signed by President Bill Clinton, The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (commonly referred to as “the Crime Bill”) was the largest crime bill in U.S. history providing for almost $10 billion in funding for prisons and $6 billion for crime prevention programs, among many other controversial provisions such as mandatory minimum sentencing and bans on certain assault weapons.
Did the bill work to reduce crime?
As mentioned above, most studies find that “tough on crime” laws only slightly decrease crime rates at the expense of devastating low-income communities of color. The National Academy of Sciences published an impressive, comprehensive study on the effects of increased incarceration on crime rates. They found “only a modest relationship between incarceration and lower crime rates.” For more info on the effects of mass incarceration, see above.
What did Bernie have to say about the bill at the time?
As seen in the above video, Bernie denounced an earlier version of the bill as “a punishment bill, a retribution bill, a vengeance bill.” He has always maintained that instead of putting our money into prisons, we should attack the root of crime by investing more in education and economic development.
http://feelthebern.org/bernie-sanders-on-criminal-justice/
