"The 2020 Democratic Field, Minus Joe Biden, Embraces a Death Penalty Moratorium"

[bloom]

I Posted Biden in 1991 being proud about his 51 death penalty provisions - and he didn't care whether there was a racial provision or not. People objected to it being 28 years ago. So here we have this - up to date story about the same thing. It is good to consider people's change - or not - over time.

Democrats running for president in 2020 are rushing to cheer Governor Gavin Newsom, after the recently inaugurated California Democrat signed an executive order to halt further executions in his state.

The first two candidates to make public statements on Newsom’s order were California’s own Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) and Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), both of whom have focused their campaigns in part on criminal justice reform and the country’s incarceration of people of color.

...But there is one likely candidate who has previously taken a different path. As a U.S. senator, Joe Biden helped write the 1994 crime bill that expanded the application of the death penalty, saying at one point that “we have predators on our streets” who are “beyond the pale.” Sanders voted for it too, though he framed it as a compromise measure.

After one Republican had complained that an earlier crime bill coddled criminals, Biden replied, in support of the law, that "we do everything but hang people for jaywalking." A request for comment made to Biden’s spokesperson was not returned.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-2020-democratic-field-minus-joe-biden-embraces-a-death-penalty-moratorium


Other thread:
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1287118633

1991 C-span link:
https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4793704/joe-biden-crime-bill

[Eko]

1. So the update on Bidens views of the death penalty

is no update.

[TCJ70]

2. In the absence of an update, all you can do is go by the past. N/t

[Fresh_Start]

5. wrong...in absense of an update, you can seek an update

that would be the responsible thing to do.

[Eko]

7. Maybe so, but your update is no update.

[DownriverDem]

10. Says you

Folks want Biden because he represents normalcy. He knows legislation and the White House in and out. I don't understand why you are posting this.

[DownriverDem]

13. What

is with the commentator? I do not attack any of the candidates expect for one.

[Eko]

18. Im sorry, I dont understand your question.

[MH1]

16. TBH, I'm not going to base my presidential pick on their stance on the DP

That ship sailed long, long ago.

Kind of like "all felons should be able to vote". Not the hill to die on in this election.

I'm personally against the death penalty but long ago found out if that was a litmus test, I'd rarely be happy about any of my choices. And there are too many other things that are more important to more innocent people on a daily basis. (Tragically the DP DOES impact innocent people - that is why it is wrong - but there are also scads of innocent people imprisoned without the DP, and lots more people brutalized in other ways without even being imprisoned. The laundry list is long.)

[Kahuna7]

3. So you believe that Biden couldn't have possibly evolved since 1991???

A lot of people have.

[bloom]

4. I wouldn't say that. But he does continue to be invested in the death penalty.

Other candidates have other focuses. I happen to like E.Warren's - as you can see.

It's worth comparing and considering what the various candidates focus on.

[Kahuna7]

6. What makes you say that? Is there any citation you can provide....

That isn't 27 years ago?

[bloom]

14. from 2015

From the article linked below:

Biden is famous for his lead role in crafting the 1994 crime bill, or, as the senator preferred to call it (as recently as 2015), the “1994 Biden Crime Bill.” Some aspects of that legislation remain popular within the Democratic Party — among them, the Violence Against Women Act, a federal assault-weapons ban, and funds for “community oriented” policing. But in 2019 America — a place where our nation’s violent crime rate is near historic lows, while its incarceration rate hovers around world-historic highs — the bill’s broader legacy is ignominious. The Brennan Center succinctly summarized that legacy on the 20th anniversary of the bill’s passage:

It expanded the death penalty, creating 60 new death penalty offenses under 41 federal capital statutes. It eliminated education funding for incarcerated students, effectively gutting prison education programs. Despite a wealth of research showing education increases post-release employment, reduces recidivism, and improves outcomes for the formerly incarcerated and their families, this change has not been reversed.

And the bill created a wave of change toward harsher state sentencing policy. That change was driven by funding incentives: the bill’s $9.7 billion in federal funding for prison construction went only to states that adopted truth-in-sentencing (TIS) laws, which lead to defendants serving far longer prison terms. Within 5 years, 29 states had TIS laws on the books, 24 more than when the bill was signed. New York State received over $216 million by passing such laws. By 2000 the state had added over 12,000 prison beds and incarcerated 28 percent more people than a decade before.
As a result of these policies — and many others — the United States imprisons a higher proportion of its population today than any other developed country. This is not because Americans commit more crimes — victimization rates in the United States are comparable to those in Western Europe. Rather, it is because we impose harsher sentences on convicts than any other nation deems conscionable.

http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/03/joe-biden-record-on-busing-incarceration-racial-justice-democratic-primary-2020-explained.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A%20nymag/intelligencer%20%28Daily%20Intelligencer%20-%20New%20York%20Magazine%29&utm_content=Google%20Feedfetcher

[George II]

8. "Invested in the death penalty"?

[DownriverDem]

12. I want someone who

can beat trump. Biden/Harris would be a formidable ticket. Why would you attack Biden?

[bloom]

17. I don't think he has woken up yet

Of course, he is better than Trump. My dog would be better than Trump. But I would like to see an excellent candidate.

Someone whose 'baby' is not a mostly unjust crime bill.

Snips from a 3-2019 article:

Biden is famous for his lead role in crafting the 1994 crime bill, or, as the senator preferred to call it (as recently as 2015), the “1994 Biden Crime Bill.” Some aspects of that legislation remain popular within the Democratic Party — among them, the Violence Against Women Act, a federal assault-weapons ban, and funds for “community oriented” policing. But in 2019 America — a place where our nation’s violent crime rate is near historic lows, while its incarceration rate hovers around world-historic highs — the bill’s broader legacy is ignominious. The Brennan Center succinctly summarized that legacy on the 20th anniversary of the bill’s passage:

It expanded the death penalty, creating 60 new death penalty offenses under 41 federal capital statutes. It eliminated education funding for incarcerated students, effectively gutting prison education programs. Despite a wealth of research showing education increases post-release employment, reduces recidivism, and improves outcomes for the formerly incarcerated and their families, this change has not been reversed.

And the bill created a wave of change toward harsher state sentencing policy. That change was driven by funding incentives: the bill’s $9.7 billion in federal funding for prison construction went only to states that adopted truth-in-sentencing (TIS) laws, which lead to defendants serving far longer prison terms. Within 5 years, 29 states had TIS laws on the books, 24 more than when the bill was signed. New York State received over $216 million by passing such laws. By 2000 the state had added over 12,000 prison beds and incarcerated 28 percent more people than a decade before.
As a result of these policies — and many others — the United States imprisons a higher proportion of its population today than any other developed country. This is not because Americans commit more crimes — victimization rates in the United States are comparable to those in Western Europe. Rather, it is because we impose harsher sentences on convicts than any other nation deems conscionable.

http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/03/joe-biden-record-on-busing-incarceration-racial-justice-democratic-primary-2020-explained.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A%20nymag/intelligencer%20%28Daily%20Intelligencer%20-%20New%20York%20Magazine%29&utm_content=Google%20Feedfetcher

[Demsrule86]

15. Baloney. This election will not be won on this issue.

[bloom]

19. It's not just the death penalty.

Though, clearly, the death penalty has been important to him. He is proud of his bill. He referred to it proudly as recently as 2016. He did repent on the crack/cocaine issue.

"When it comes to criminal justice issues, Biden’s record also puts him at sharp odds with where Democrats are today: He has one of the most punitive, “tough on crime” records on criminal justice issues within the 2020 field — more so than even opponents Kamala Harris or Amy Klobuchar, both of whom have already been criticized for their records.

...Consider one moment in his career: In 1989, at the height of punitive anti-drug and mass incarceration politics, Biden, then a senator, went on national television to criticize a plan from President George H.W. Bush to escalate the war on drugs. The plan, Biden said, didn’t go far enough.

“Quite frankly, the president’s plan is not tough enough, bold enough, or imaginative enough to meet the crisis at hand,” he said. He called not just for harsher punishments for drug dealers but to “hold every drug user accountable.” Bush’s plan, Biden added, “doesn’t include enough police officers to catch the violent thugs, not enough prosecutors to convict them, not enough judges to sentence them, and not enough prison cells to put them away for a long time” — a direct call for more incarceration.

...In 2008, he backed the Second Chance Act, which provides monitoring and counseling services to former prison inmates. In his last few years in the Senate, he supported the full elimination of the sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine. (The disparity was reduced from 100-to-1 to 18-to-1 in 2010 with the passage of the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010.)

...And in 2016, after CNBC asked Biden if he was ashamed of the 1994 law, Biden responded, “Not at all. As a matter of fact, I drafted the bill, if you remember.”

[Demsrule86]

23. I don't care. People evolve, all this old crap is meaningless to me.

What does he think now. Everyone knows this...but he felt very differently during his vice presidency.

[George II]

9. It's said that "The first two candidates to make public statements on Newsom's order" are....

Harris and Booker. So apparently many of the others have not made statements about Newsom's order (which I support 110%), yet Biden is singled out as not embracing the moratorium?

Why not any of the others? What are their positions on the moratorium? Many haven't said anything about it either, but the headline says "The 2020 Democratic Field, Minus Joe Biden, Embraces a Death Penalty Moratorium" (not "minus" the others)

Well, Biden is the clear front runner, so I guess he's ripe for attack regardless of the truth behind the attack.

[bloom]

21. Biden continues to be proud of his death penalty+mass incarceration bill.

And in 2016, after CNBC asked Biden if he was ashamed of the 1994 law, Biden responded, “Not at all. As a matter of fact, I drafted the bill, if you remember.”

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/4/25/18282870/joe-biden-criminal-justice-war-on-drugs-mass-incarceration

[Demsrule86]

24. Link for 2016 quote...it is not in Vox article..you truly should be ashamed to post

these attacks on this site.

[bloom]

40. that quote is absolutely in the VOX article

[See 2nd paragraph below. Below is the last part of the article.]

If you are against Biden's bill - that he was proud of as of 2016 - then you should be aware of that (that it's Biden's baby).

I'm not posting that which isn't true.

Seriously - if you think his bill is something to be ashamed of - then that shame should be Biden's shame. Not mine.

Biden has seemed proud of the 1994 law, even some of its “tough on crime” measures, until fairly recently. In his 2008 presidential campaign website, Biden’s campaign called the 1994 law the “Biden Crime Law.” And the website proudly touted a funding program in the law that encouraged states to effectively increase their prison sentences by paying them to build more prisons — a direct endorsement of more incarceration.

And in 2016, after CNBC asked Biden if he was ashamed of the 1994 law, Biden responded, “Not at all. As a matter of fact, I drafted the bill, if you remember.” He acknowledged that there were parts of the law he’d change, but argued that “by and large what it really did, it restored American cities.”

The effects of Biden’s actions are still felt today. When Trump called for greater use of the death penalty to fight the opioid epidemic, then–Attorney General Jeff Sessions cited the 1994 crime law that Biden worked to pass to put legal weight behind Trump’s plan.

There’s way less ambiguity in Biden’s record than in his opponents’ pasts
Other presidential candidates have faced similar criticisms for their “tough on crime” records, including Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) for her work as a prosecutor and California’s attorney general and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) for her time as a prosecutor in Minnesota.

But there are some nuances to these criticisms. Both Harris and Klobuchar did pursue some “tough on crime” policies, such as going after nonviolent offenders in certain cases. But Harris was also ahead of her time in, for example, supporting a “Back on Track” program that allowed first-time drug offenders to get a high school diploma and a job instead of prison time. And Klobuchar, while mostly an of-the-time “tough on crime” prosecutor in Hennepin County, worked with the Innocence Project to push for reforms in eyewitness identification and recorded police interviews — two big causes of the innocence movement at the time.

Biden’s record is much more straightforward. Sure, he occasionally spoke out against some tough measures, and some of his proposals included more funding for addiction treatment. But taken as a whole, Biden was very clearly and consistently pushing to make the criminal justice system much more punitive. His main criticisms of Bush and other Republicans were specifically that they weren’t “tough enough.”

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/4/25/18282870/joe-biden-criminal-justice-war-on-drugs-mass-incarceration

[Demsrule86]

47. No video...out of context....

This is a hit job...trashing. we need to stay away from such unfair posts.

[George II]

29. That's a huge stretch. He wasn't asked about the individual provisions in the bill, he was asked...

....about the overall bill, which had many many provisions in it other than the FEDERAL death penalty, including statutes regarding:

Immigration Law
Hate Crimes
Sex Crimes
Gang Related Crime
Assault Weapons Ban
Violence Against Women Act
Drive's Privacy Protection Act
Crimes Against Children and Sex Offender Registration Act
Community Oriented Policing Services

and many others.

It should be noted that under the "death penalty bill", as you refer to it, no Federal prisoners were executed until 7 years after it went into effect, that was Timothy McVeigh. Another prisoner was executed a week later, and a third was executed in March 2003. That was the last prisoner executed under the "death penalty bill" - 16 years ago. Three in 25 years.

I'm totally against the death penalty, campaigned against it in NY and Connecticut, and was happy it was banned in both. But to portray the bill as a "death penalty bill" is wrong, and without asking Biden specifically about that provision of the bill claiming that he was "proud" of his (non) stance on the death penalty is just wrong.

[left-of-center2012]

11. These Democratic attacks on Biden only help Trump

And most are posted by supporters of two Democratic candiates.

Stop tearing down Democrats.

Biden is attacking Trump while you attack Biden.

[bloom]

20. Biden isn't just running against Trump.

He needs to have a record that is better than the other Democrats - or why support him?

[Demsrule86]

25. I don't see any reason to support Warren but I don't search for attached KS on her.

[left-of-center2012]

27. These attacks on Biden don't help your candidate

[oldsoftie]

31. And its only May '19!! Just wait till next year........

[left-of-center2012]

33. "And its only May '19!!"

Pssst!

It's May 14th.

[oldsoftie]

36. 2019, as evidenced by the ' before the 19, and not "th" following it. Jeeze.

[left-of-center2012]

37. yep

Five days away to the 19th.
Be patient. You'll get there.

[oldsoftie]

39. Apparently you have a tough time deciphering abbreviations. Even after they're explained!

I'm sure everyone else knew what i was referring to, especially since i also mentioned wait till next year.

[left-of-center2012]

41. I know

Patience ........................
It's coming.

[Eko]

22. FYI.

Title VI, the Federal Death Penalty Act, created 60 new death penalty offenses under 41 federal capital statutes,[3] for crimes related to acts of terrorism, murder of a federal law enforcement officer, civil rights-related murders, drive-by shootings resulting in death, the use of weapons of mass destruction resulting in death, and carjackings resulting in death.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violent_Crime_Control_and_Law_Enforcement_Act

[Demsrule86]

26. Another attack.

[oldsoftie]

38. Gonna be a looooooong year!

People forget the main reason to vote next year is to REMOVE TRUMP.

[mcar]

28. Does it say what his 2020 position is?

[bloom]

32. My guess - is that since he has recently said he was proud of it (2016)

that he might avoid the subject - knowing that many would see it negatively.

It may come up in debates though. That would be interesting.

[oldsoftie]

30. Just another reason to vote FOR Biden.

The majority of the country supports the DP.
Does it need changing? Yes. And i've stated what those changes should be.

[bloom]

34. It's not just the death penalty

It's also the problem of mass incarceration. And esp. the unfair mass incarceration of blacks. Biden's bill (he calls it that) was problematic in unfairly targeting blacks. While he did eventually acknowledge that problem, there are other parts that he does not disown - that are problems.

Actually, he has a lot of racial problems - which if they were widely known - could pretty easily sink him.

[oldsoftie]

35. Joe Biden does not have a "lot of racial problems". Good lord. Pres Obama picked HIM.

And crime the past several years has been at a decades-low rate. Maybe its because the Biden Bill put some people is jail that needed to BE there.

[bloom]

42. "Will Black Voters Still Love Biden When They Remember Who He Was?"

http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/03/joe-biden-record-on-busing-incarceration-racial-justice-democratic-primary-2020-explained.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A%20nymag/intelligencer%20%28Daily%20Intelligencer%20-%20New%20York%20Magazine%29&utm_content=Google%20Feedfetcher

[Skya Rhen]

43. POC are quite aware of the Crime Bill. We stand with him.

[Thekaspervote]

44. To all the posters here and the OP...do you not think the gopee and Russians read every word

Written here?? Hey...wake up!! You’re supplying them with free propaganda..stop!!!

[bloom]

46. I think you can figure

That these topics will be fodder - and not because I'm bringing them up.

This subject has been and continues to be written about. Articles in national publications, Twitter stuff, etc.

It's not propaganda to look at the truth of the matter. Some agree with Biden, some won't. But I think everyone should know - so they can make up their own mind. I also think it's useful to watch, '13th' if you want to know the history of racial injustice which includes propaganda which gave the KKK a foothold and later the mass incarceration of blacks. It's relevant to this election.

It would be tricky for Republicans to fight against Biden for these things - as they seem like just what many Republicans would like. Biden tried to situate himself to the right of Republicans when he wrote 'his' bill. (Listen to the C-span thing if you don't believe me.)

It would be a good idea to think about who would be a good candidate for not just white men, but who has really made an effort to represent everybody. Because - we need a candidate who would do a good job of representing at least everybody but the crazy-wacko-Trump-lovers. Not everyone gets involved enough to vote in the primary. I also don't want the Democratic primary to be decided by cable news.

[Jake Stern]

45. Torn

On one hand I am absolutely against the death penalty. In my opinion there is no room for nuance - if you're not against it then you're for it. None of this "only for the rarest of rare cases" bullshit.

On the other I also feel that Joe Biden stands the best chance of evicting Trump from the White House and sadly 54% of Americans support the death penalty, including 35% of Democrats and that number is rising again.