Groundbreaking crime bill faces more criticism 30 years later: NPR

Thirty years ago this Friday, then-President Bill Clinton signed the law that represented the federal government's largest intervention in crime and justice in a generation.

The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 put more police on the streets, imposed harsher penalties, and provided federal funds to build additional prisons.

In the years that followed, many of its architects came to believe that it was a terrible mistake.

The discussion about public safety has changed dramatically in recent decades, says Nick Turner, director of the Vera Institute of Justice.

“Crime is lower. The perception of crime is lower. People are more skeptical of tough measures against crime,” Turner said.

Violent crime has been the subject of numerous political attacks this year, and at this week's presidential debate, former President Donald Trump highlighted crimes he said were committed by immigrants.

But the excesses of the justice system also came up when Vice President Harris mentioned the Central Park Five, young men convicted and later acquitted for the brutal attack on a jogger in New York City in 1989. They also appeared on stage at the Democratic National Convention this summer.

“The five exonerees stood on stage and acknowledged the devastation and damage that an overly aggressive system can cause,” Turner said.

“Carrot and stick”

Despite all the talk of politicians being tough or soft on crime, the federal government's role in justice policy is limited. The vast majority of cases in the country are prosecuted by state and local authorities.

“Presidents are in a position of power,” said Cully Stimson, a senior legal fellow at the Heritage Foundation. “Presidents can and should, I think, spend some time talking about your right to public safety. And that your right to public safety depends in large part on your community.”

According to Stimson, crime peaked in the early 1990s and declined dramatically in the decades that followed.

“The carrot and stick approach worked,” Stimson said. “It brought the crime rate down.”

The incentive is to create alternatives to prison, such as drug and veterans courts, and to fund violence prevention programs.

The stick, he says, is accountability.

“And accountability does not mean going to jail,” he said. “In most cases, most offenders do not go to jail, and they should not, but they must be held accountable.”

Changes in the justice system across the country

Even Trump signed the First Step Act in 2018, a law that allowed thousands of prisoners to be released early. States made even bigger changes to their justice systems at that time.

“When I tell my students that the United States no longer has the highest incarceration rate in the world, they are usually shocked,” says Udi Ofer, a professor at Princeton University.

During the pandemic, crime rose before falling again.

Ofer said that despite some backlash, state legislatures have passed laws addressing everything from expanding access to parole to allowing judges to review long prison sentences.

“Despite popular perceptions and political rhetoric suggesting otherwise, bipartisan progress is being made on criminal justice reform,” Ofer said.

He has reviewed dozens of polls this year and found something consistent.

“Americans want and deserve security, and that is incredibly important,” Ofer said. “At the same time, they also believe in justice.”