2016 Vice Presidential prospects: on Crime


Tim Kaine: Kaine's Project Exile disproportionately impacted blacks

As Richmond mayor from 1998 to 2001, Kaine was a vocal supporter of Project Exile, crediting it with reducing the city's murder rate. Its goal was to literally live up to its name by making illegal gun possession a federal, not a state, crime, which allowed prosecutors to send convicted felons, most of them black, to a distant federal penitentiary for at least five years.
Source: Reuters, "USA Election," on 2016 Veepstakes Jul 22, 2016

Mike Pence: OpEd: even-minded on ending racist police brutality

Many are curious to know what is Pence's stance on Black Lives Matter? Depending on your viewpoint, it's either unfortunate or positive that Gov. Pence hasn't said much about the Black Lives Matter movement. Unfortunate in that there's no way to know his true feelings on BLM, but positive in that he hasn't publicly spoken out in bigotry or jumped to conclusions.

What he has said publicly paints him as fairly even-minded when it comes to the controversial movement aimed at ending racist police brutality. While he called the shootings of police officers in Dallas last week a "horrific ambush," he didn't blame Black Lives Matter for the shooting, which in 2016, makes him the Republican equivalent of the Dalai Lama. Pence went on to say that his heart goes out to the two men who lost their lives at the hands of police before the Dallas shootings as well, though he didn't mention their names. Pence hasn't proven himself to be racist (or at least anti-BLM).

Source: Bustle.com, "Pence On Black Lives Matter": 2016 Veepstakes Jul 17, 2016

Elizabeth Warren: Supports anti-gang, safe neighborhood initiatives

Elizabeth will support our first responders, the enforcement of tough gun laws to keep weapons out of the hands of criminals, and anti-trafficking efforts. Elizabeth supports community policing, anti-gang, and safe neighborhood initiatives because she knows that good public safety happens when police, community leaders, clergy, district service providers, prosecutors and sheriffs work together. She supports substance abuse treatment programs that reduce recidivism and help people get jobs.
Source: 2016 Veepstakes: campaign website ElizabethWarren.com Jul 2, 2016

Elizabeth Warren: Unfair: Kid in trouble for petty theft; CEO steals billions

It's not equal justice when a kid gets thrown in jail for stealing a car, while a CEO gets a huge raise when his company steals billions. It's not equal justice when someone hooked on opioids gets locked up for buying pills on the street, but bank executives get off scot-free for laundering nearly a billion dollars of drug cartel money." Warren said it is time for Congress to pass criminal justice reform easing the severe sentences for nonviolent offenses.
Source: Huffington Post on 2016 Veepstakes: "Justice rigged" Feb 3, 2016

Elizabeth Warren: Advocates stiff punishment for corporate offenders

Warren insists that the bigger problem is a failure to "use the tools Congress has already provided to impose meaningful accountability on corporate offenders." She argues that bank regulators had the tools they needed to stop the 2008 financial crisis, but chose not to. Despite multiple promises by President Obama's Department of Justice to stiffen enforcement of corporate misconduct, "Accountability has been shockingly weak."
Source: TheIntercept.com on 2016 Veepstakes Jan 29, 2016

Tim Kaine: Opposes death penalty as a Catholic, but upholds VA law

[Kaine commented on his Catholic faith]: If faith is central to Kaine's political identity, it is also a source of personal pain for an otherwise unfailingly upbeat campaigner. He grows solemn when the topic is capital punishment, the point at which Kaine's political ambitions appeared to trump his moral convictions. Kaine adroitly defused the issue, promising voters he would not block the state's death penalty machinery, despite his personal beliefs.
Source: Washington Post, "Moral convictions" on 2016 Veepstakes Jan 7, 2016

  • The above quotations are from Vice Presidential possibilities for 2016.
  • Click here for definitions & background information on Crime.
  • Click here for other issues (main summary page).
  • Click here for more quotes by Julian Castro on Crime.
  • Click here for more quotes by Thomas Perez on Crime.
2020 Presidential contenders on Crime:
  Democrats running for President:
Sen.Michael Bennet (D-CO)
V.P.Joe Biden (D-DE)
Mayor Mike Bloomberg (I-NYC)
Gov.Steve Bullock (D-MT)
Mayor Pete Buttigieg (D-IN)
Sen.Cory Booker (D-NJ)
Secy.Julian Castro (D-TX)
Gov.Lincoln Chafee (L-RI)
Rep.John Delaney (D-MD)
Rep.Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI)
Sen.Amy Klobuchar (D-MN)
Gov.Deval Patrick (D-MA)
Sen.Bernie Sanders (I-VT)
CEO Tom Steyer (D-CA)
Sen.Elizabeth Warren (D-MA)
Marianne Williamson (D-CA)
CEO Andrew Yang (D-NY)

2020 Third Party Candidates:
Rep.Justin Amash (L-MI)
CEO Don Blankenship (C-WV)
Gov.Lincoln Chafee (L-RI)
Howie Hawkins (G-NY)
Gov.Gary Johnson(L-NM)
Howard Schultz(I-WA)
Gov.Jesse Ventura (I-MN)
Republicans running for President:
Sen.Ted Cruz(R-TX)
Gov.Larry Hogan (R-MD)
Gov.John Kasich(R-OH)
V.P.Mike Pence(R-IN)
Gov.Mark Sanford (R-SC)
Pres.Donald Trump(R-NY)
Rep.Joe Walsh (R-IL)
Gov.Bill Weld(R-MA & L-NY)

2020 Withdrawn Democratic Candidates:
Sen.Stacey Abrams (D-GA)
Mayor Bill de Blasio (D-NYC)
Sen.Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY)
Sen.Mike Gravel (D-AK)
Sen.Kamala Harris (D-CA)
Gov.John Hickenlooper (D-CO)
Gov.Jay Inslee (D-WA)
Mayor Wayne Messam (D-FL)
Rep.Seth Moulton (D-MA)
Rep.Beto O`Rourke (D-TX)
Rep.Tim Ryan (D-CA)
Adm.Joe Sestak (D-PA)
Rep.Eric Swalwell (D-CA)
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Page last updated: Nov 30, 2021