Joe Biden on Crime Former Vice President; previously Democratic Senator (DE)

Sub-sections under Crime:
• Police Reform
• Voting Record
• Other issues under Crime

DOJ to name a chief prosecutor for pandemic fraud

The same time for the same crime, for blacks and whites

BIDEN: Right.

Q:Was it a mistake to support it?

BIDEN: What we did federally was all about the same time for the same crime. We did a study: what happens if you're a Black man and it's the first time you've committed robbery, how long would you go to jail? If you're White man, how long? The Black man would go to jail on average 13 years. White man, two years. We set up a sentencing commission. We didn't set the time. What happened was it became the same time for the same crime.

Q: How do you prevent the kind of policing that results in police-on-civilian tragedies?

BIDEN: One of the things that has to change is so many cops get called into circumstances where somebody is mentally off. That's why we have to provide within police departments psychologists and social workers to go out with the cops on those calls, some of those 911 calls to de-escalate the circumstance, to deal with talking them down.

NYC stop-and-frisk was stopped by Obama observers

BIDEN: Let's get something straight. The reason that stop-and-frisk changed is because Barack Obama sent moderators to see what was going on. When we sent them there to say "this practice has to stop," the mayor thought it was a terrible idea we send them there. Let's get the order straight. And it's not whether he apologized or not. It's the policy. The policy was abhorrent. And it was a fact of violation of every right people have. Our administration sent in people to moderate. And the mayor argued against that. He figured out it was a bad idea after we sent in monitors and said it must stop.

BLOOMBERG: I've apologized. We stopped too many people. If we took off everybody that was wrong off this panel, everybody that was wrong on criminal justice at some time in their careers, there'd be nobody else up here.

In 1990s we released 38,000 inmates, changed police rules

1994: Billions for state prisons but fewer billions than GOP

He was misrepresenting his own record. Biden expressed unequivocal support, in both 1994 and in the years following, for the law's billions in funding to build state prisons. He argued in 1994 that the law should include less money for prison construction than Republicans wanted to spend--but he emphasized that he too wanted to spend billions.

Biden's campaign did not dispute our conclusion that Biden did support this kind of spending. Biden "was referring to how Republicans wanted to provide more money for prison construction than he felt was right," said a campaign spokesperson.

1992: pro-death penalty; 2019: congrats on ending it

But in a little-noticed remark earlier this month in New Hampshire, Biden seemed to offer a decidedly different stance on the death penalty.

Fielding a question from a voter aligned with the ACLU about how he'd reduce the federal prison population, Biden gave a long and winding answer: He defended his crime bill, advocated for reforms to the criminal justice system involving nonviolent and drug offenders, and said he was proud of his work with Barack Obama to cut the federal prison population by 3,800.

Then, unprompted, Biden added: "By the way, congratulations to ya'll ending the death penalty here." Biden's campaign would not comment on his answer, or shed light on whether he's changed his position on the death penalty.

Regrets supporting strict sentences, including on crack

Supreme Court wrong to deny federalization of wife-beating

A: You know, I’m the guy who wrote the Violence Against Women Act. And I said that every woman in America, if they are beaten and abused by a man, should be able to take that person to court--meaning you should be able to go to federal court and sue in federal court the man who abused you if you can prove that abuse. But they said, “No, for a woman, there’s no federal jurisdiction.” And I held, they acknowledged, I held about 1,000 hours of hearings proving that there’s an effect in interstate commerce.

Women who are abused and beaten and beaten are women who are not able to be in the work force. And the Supreme Court said, “Well, there is an impact on commerce, but this is federalizing a private crime and we’re not going to allow it.” I think the Supreme Court was wrong about that decision.

Bush is impediment to hate crimes legislation

BIDEN: We can and we should move [the pending Hate Crimes legislation] forward. The impediment right now is the president. We need someone in the civil rights division who is aggressive in going after these hate crimes. I would not wait. Why did we not hear immediately from the justice department in the Jena 6? Why did we not hear immediately when the rash of burnings took place? Why did we not hear? The reason is that they are not committed. Hate crimes are just that. The vilest and filthiest of crimes. And when you let one celebrated hate crime go, you generate an attitude.

Authored the Clinton crime bill & 100,000 cops on the street

Separate juveniles from adults in jail

We don't have to choose between safety and equal justice

No police reform commission despite campaign promise

PROMISE BROKEN: (Politico.com, 4/11/21): The White House is putting the creation of a national police oversight commission on hold, nixing a Biden campaign pledge to establish one within his first 100 days. "The administration made the considered judgment that a police commission, at this time, would not be the most effective way to deliver on our top priority in this area, which is to sign the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act into law," a spokesperson said.

ANALYSIS: The White House said it consulted with national civil rights organizations and police unions. Both entities made clear to the administration that they thought a commission was not necessary and likely redundant.

Social & economic support services to deter violent behavior

PROMISE PARTLY KEPT: (White House press release, 4/7/21): The American Jobs Plan proposes a $5 billion investment over eight years to support community violence intervention programs. Health and Human Services is organizing a webinar and toolkit to educate states on how they can use Medicaid to reimburse certain community violence intervention programs, as we wait on Congress to appropriate additional funds.

Rebuild trust between police & people they serve

Institutional racism that only black parents give "the talk"

BIDEN: I do. I never had to tell my daughter, if she's pulled over for a traffic stop. "Put both hands on top of the wheel and don't reach for the glove box because someone may shoot you." But a Black parent, no matter how wealthy or how poor they are, has to teach their child, "Don't have a hoodie on when you go across the street." The fact of the matter is, there is institutional racism in America. We've always constantly been moving the needle further and further to inclusion, not exclusion. This is the first president to come along and says, that's the end of that. We're not going to do that anymore.

More community policing, but not as police jump-out squads

BIDEN: Yes, if in fact they're involved in community policing, not jump-out squads [raids by police vehicles]. For example, when we had community policing, from the mid-'90s on until till Bush got elected, what happened? Violent crime actually went down precipitously. The cops didn't like the community policing, because you had to have two people in the vehicle, they had to get out of their cars, they had to introduce themselves to who own the local liquor store, who owned the local grocery store, who was the woman on the corner. And what they would do, they'd actually go and give people their phone numbers. A cop would give the phone number.

TRUMP: [I support the bill introduced by Senator] Tim Scott: that was strong in terms of law enforcement, and strong in terms of doing the proper thing by law enforcement. And the Democrats just wouldn't go for it.

FactCheck: Endorsed by 175 law enforcement officials

Is that true, that no law enforcement has endorsed Biden? We found this article dated Sept. 4 on Fox News, headlined "More than 175 current, former law enforcement officials endorse Joe Biden, slam Trump as 'lawless' president." Excerpts:

"Fox News first obtained the list of the Biden-supporting law enforcement officials, which includes former sheriffs and former police chiefs who touted the former vice president's experience 'keeping communities safe.'

"The endorsements come after a number of high-profile law enforcement organizations threw their support behind Trump. In July, the National Association of Police Organizations endorsed Trump, praising his 'steadfast and very public support' for law enforcement. NAPO did not endorse a candidate in the 2016 election but endorsed Barack Obama and Biden in both the 2008 and 2012 elections."

Violent protestors should be prosecuted

BIDEN: There's systemic injustice in this country. [But] violence in response is never appropriate. Peaceful protest is; violence is never appropriate.

Q: Protests have turned violent in Portland, Oregon, especially. You talk about peaceful protests. Many of those turned into riots. You say that people who commit crimes should be held accountable. Have you ever called the Mayor of Portland or the Governor of Oregon and said, "Hey, you got to stop this, bring in the National Guard, do whatever it takes, but you'd stop the days and months of violence in Portland?"

BIDEN: I don't hold public office. But I've made it clear in my public statements that the violence should be prosecuted. It should be prosecuted and anyone who committed it should be prosecuted.

Q: But you've never called the leaders in Portland and in Oregon?

BIDEN: They can in fact take care of it if [Trump would] just stay out of the way.

Reimagine policing: I totally oppose defunding police

BIDEN: We have to have community policing like we had before where the officers get to know the people in the communities. That's when crime went down.

TRUMP: That's not what it is about. He's talking about defunding the police.

BIDEN: I'm totally opposed to defunding the police offices. [Trump's] budget calls for a $400 million cut in local law enforcement assistance. They need more assistance; when they show up for a 9-11 call to have someone with them as a psychologist to keep them from having to use force.

TRUMP: He doesn't have any law support. He has no law enforcement.

BIDEN: That's not true.

TRUMP: He has almost nothing.

Violence is never appropriate response to police violence

TRUMP: What is peaceful protest? When they run through town and burn down your stores and kill people all over the place--

BIDEN: That is not peaceful protest.

TRUMP: No, it's not, but you say it is.

Bring stakeholders together to agree on police reforms

Vast majority of police are ashamed of what they've seen

BIDEN: No, I don't. There has to be national standards that apply to every police department. The other side is that we have in the African American community the desire to have police who will protect them and know them, community policing. I don't want to defund police departments. I think they need more help, The vast majority of the police, they're ashamed of what they saw. You have to take action, and it has to be national.

1994 Crime bill had community policing and crime went down

We should change the whole prison system from one of punishment to rehabilitation. Nobody should go to jail for drug use. They should be put in rehabilitation. Mandatory rehabilitation. Secondly, anybody in prison, anybody in prison should be learning a trade, should be being taught something. If you can't read, write, add and subtract, you should be able to learn that in prison. And when you get out you should be able to qualify for every federal program across the board.

1984: Passed Comprehensive Crime Control Act

• The Armed Career Criminal act (a law that increases the sentence on a criminal who commits a crime with a firearm and then commits other felonies three or more times).
• The Sentencing Reform Act (a federal statue to ensure there was consistency of federal sentencing).
• Increased jurisdiction of credit card and computer fraud for the US Secret Service.
• Increased the penalties on matters surrounding the growing , keeping or selling of marijuana.
• The institution of capital punishment.

1990s: Supported tough-on-crime; 2019:considers those racist

"The bottom line is we have a lot to root out, but most of all the systematic racism that most of us whites don't like to acknowledge even exists," Biden said during a breakfast held by the Rev. Al Sharpton and the National Action Network. "We don't even consciously acknowledge it. But it's been built into every aspect of our system."

1993: Don't care why "predators" act; put them in jail

Biden said he did not care what led someone to commit crimes. "I don't care why someone is a malefactor in society. I don't care why someone is antisocial. I don't care why they've become a sociopath," Biden said. "We have an obligation to cordon them off from the rest of society, try to help them, try to change the behavior. That's what we do in this bill. We have drug treatment and we have other treatments to try to deal with it, but they are in jail."

1980s community policing worked to reduce crime rate

Violent crime dropped precipitously, from almost 2 million incidents in 1994 to 1.4 million in 2000. The murder rate was cut nearly in half. Relations between the police and the black community, while far from perfect, were very much improved. But community policing became a victim of its own success. As crime went down, so too did public pressure to focus on policing.

Police and communities must respect each other

It is the responsibility of every community to recognize the humanity of the men and women who volunteer to put themselves in harm's way, to answer the urgent call in the night, to do the best that they can. And it is the responsibility of every officer who takes an oath to protect and serve to respect the dignity of every person that officer encounters, young or old, male or female, black, white, Hispanic, or Asian. We need to agree as a nation on two basic statements of truth. Number one, cops have a right to make it home to their families tonight. And number two, all minorities have a right to be treated with dignity and respect.

Community policing is expensive, but it works

Community policing costs a lot of money. It's more expensive to have individuals patrolling the neighborhood than relying on technology . But since 1998, states, as well as the federal government, in large part because crime dropped, have started to slash budgets. We acted like the problem was solved. Crime was not at the top of the country's agenda anymore. As a result, since 1998, funding for community policing has been cut by 87%. That means fewer cops on the streets and in neighborhoods, building recognition and trust.

1970: DE Public not receiving needed police protection

1990 crime bill: more police & tougher penalties

Supports sentencing guidelines to put away violent criminals

1994 Crime Bill got help for first time offenders, not jail

Biden Law of 1994 created several new capital offenses

• Banned the manufacture of 19 specific semiautomatic “assault weapons”
• Allocated more money to build prisons & set up bootcamps for delinquent minors
• Designated 50 new federal offenses, including gang membership, and created several new federal death penalty offenses, including murders related to drug dealing, drive-by shooting murders, civil rights-related murders, murders of federal law enforcement officers, and death caused by acts of terrorism or weapons of mass destruction.

Voted YES on reinstating $1.15 billion funding for the COPS Program.

Proponents recommend voting YES because:

This amendment reinstates the COPS Program. I remind everyone, when the COPS Program was functioning, violent crime in America reduced 8.5% a year for 7 years in a row. Throughout the 1990s, we funded the COPS Program at roughly $1.2 billion, and it drove down crime. Now crime is rising again. The COPS Program in the crime bill worked, and the Government Accounting Office found a statistical link between the COPS grants and a reduction in crime. The Brookings Institution reported the COPS Program is one of the most cost-effective programs we have ever had in this country. Local officials urgently need this support.

Opponents recommend voting NO because:

The COPS Program has some history. It was started by President Clinton. He asked for 100,000 police officers. He said that when we got to 100,000, the program would stop. We got to 110,000 police officers and the program continues on and on and on.

This program should have ended 5 years ago or 6 years ago, but it continues. It is similar to so many Federal programs that get constituencies that go on well past what their original purpose was. It may be well intentioned, but we cannot afford it and we shouldn't continue it. It was never thought it would be continued this long.

Voted YES on $1.15 billion per year to continue the COPS program.

Voted NO on limiting death penalty appeals.

Voted NO on limiting product liability punitive damage awards.

Voted NO on restricting class-action lawsuits.

Voted NO on repealing federal speed limits.

Voted NO on mandatory prison terms for crimes involving firearms.

Voted NO on rejecting racial statistics in death penalty appeals.

Rated 71% by CURE, indicating pro-rehabilitation crime votes.

CURE (Citizens United for Rehabilitation of Errants) is a membership organization of families of prisoners, prisoners, former prisoners and other concerned citizens. CURE's two goals are

1. to use prisons only for those who have to be in them; and
2. for those who have to be in them, to provide them all the rehabilitative opportunities they need to turn their lives around.

More funding and stricter sentencing for hate crimes.

Title: To provide Federal assistance to States and local jurisdictions to prosecute hate crimes.

Summary: Provide technical, forensic, prosecutorial, or other assistance in the criminal investigation or prosecution of any violent crime that is motivated by prejudice based on the race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, or disability of the victim or is a violation of hate crime laws.

1. Award grants to assist State and local law enforcement officials with extraordinary expenses for interstate hate crimes.

2. Award grants to State and local programs designed to combat hate crimes committed by juveniles.

3. Prohibit specified offenses involving actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, or disability.

4. Increase criminal sentencing for adult recruitment of juveniles to commit hate crimes.

5. Collect and publish data about crimes that manifest evidence of prejudice based on gender.

Establish a domestic violence volunteer attorney network.

National Domestic Violence Volunteer Attorney Network Act - Authorizes grants to the American Bar Association Commission on Domestic Violence to work in collaboration with the American Bar Association Committee on Pro Bono and Public Service and other organizations to create, recruit lawyers for, and provide training, mentoring, and technical assistance for a National Domestic Violence Volunteer Attorney Network.

Requires the Office on Violence Against Women of the Department of Justice to designate five states in which to implement the pilot program of a National Domestic Violence Volunteer Attorney Referral Project and distribute funds under this Act.

Directs the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to study and report to Congress on the scope and quality of legal representation and advocacy for victims of domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking, including the provision of culturally and linguistically appropriate services.

Increase funding for "COPS ON THE BEAT" program.

COPS Improvements Act of 2007 - Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to make grants for public safety and community policing programs (COPS ON THE BEAT or COPS program). Revises grant purposes to provide for:

1. the hiring or training of law enforcement officers for intelligence, antiterror, and homeland security duties;
2. the hiring of school resource officers;
3. school-based partnerships between local law enforcement agencies and local school systems to combat crime, gangs, drug activities, and other problems facing elementary and secondary schools;
4. innovative programs to reduce and prevent illegal drug (including methamphetamine) manufacturing, distribution, and use; and
5. enhanced community policing and crime prevention grants that meet emerging law enforcement needs.

Authorizes the Attorney General to make grants to:
1. assign community prosecutors to handle cases from specific geographic areas and address counterterrorism problems, specific violent crime problems, and localized violent and other crime problems; and
2. develop new technologies to assist state and local law enforcement agencies in crime prevention.

Reduce recidivism by giving offenders a Second Chance.

Recidivism Reduction and Second Chance Act of 2007
• Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to expand provisions for adult and juvenile offender state and local reentry demonstration projects to provide expanded services to offenders and their families for reentry into society.
• Directs the Attorney General to award grants for:
  1. state and local reentry courts;
  2. Comprehensive and Continuous Offender Reentry Task Forces;
  3. pharmacological drug treatment services to incarcerated offenders;
  4. technology career training for offenders;
  5. mentoring services for reintegrating offenders into the community;
  6. pharmacological drug treatment services to incarcerated offenders;
  7. prison-based family treatment programs for incarcerated parents of minor children; and
  8. a study of parole or post-incarceration supervision violations and revocations.

Sponsored bill to abolish federal death penalty.

Legislative summary of H.R.4052: This bill prohibits the imposition of a death penalty sentence for a violation of federal law. A person sentenced to death before enactment of this bill must be resentenced.

Press release and letter on Connolly.House.gov: Capital punishment is unjust, racist and defective. The United States stands alone among its peers in executing its own citizens, a barbaric punishment that denies the dignity and humanity of all people and is disproportionately applied to people who are Black, Latinx, and poor. In their letter, the lawmakers called on President-Elect Biden to affirm his commitment to eliminating the death penalty--as laid out in his criminal justice reform plan--by ending it through executive action on Day 1 of his administration. The lawmakers also made clear that in the 117th Congress, they will continue to work to advance H.R. 4052, legislation to permanently abolish the death penalty.

ProPublica summary by Isaac Arnsdorf 12/23/20: Throughout the campaign, Trump highlighted executions as a contrast to Joe Biden's opposition to the death penalty, reinforcing Trump's "law and order" message. The Justice Department has killed 10 people since July, with three more executions scheduled before Biden's inauguration. "Death penalty all the way," Trump said at a February 2016 campaign event. "I've always supported the death penalty. I don't even understand people that don't."

Until this year, the Justice Department hadn't executed anyone since 2003. A drug that most states and the federal government used in lethal injections, a sedative called sodium pentothal, became unavailable because the sole American manufacturer stopped making it. Shortly after Trump's presidency began, his first attorney general, Jeff Sessions, [pushed] to resolve these issues so that the federal Bureau of Prisons could resume executions.

Establish an FBI registry of sexual offendors.

• Establish a national database at the FBI to track each person who has been convicted of a criminal offense against a minor or a sexually violent offense; or is a sexually violent predator.
• Requires each such person who resides in a State that has not established a minimally sufficient sexual offender registration program to register a current address, fingerprints, and a current photograph with the FBI for inclusion in such database, except during ensuing periods of incarceration
• This requirement extends until ten years after the date on which the person was released from prison or placed on parole or probation; or for the life of the person if that person has two or more convictions for any such offense, has been convicted of aggravated sexual abuse, or has been determined to be a sexually violent predator.