PA Bill Number: HB829
Title: In preliminary provisions, further providing for definitions;
Description: An Act amending the act of April 12, 1951 (P.L.90, No.21), known as the Liquor Code, in preliminary provisions, further providing for definitions;
Last Action: Signed in House
Last Action Date: Jul 3, 2024
Another look at the impact of the controversial 1994 Crime Bill :: 06/14/2019
WASHINGTON (SBG) - The question 25 years ago: how to crack down on violent crime at a time when murder rates were through the roof.
The answer from Congress? The bipartisan 1994 crime bill, supported by Democrat President Bill Clinton.
Let us roll up our sleeves to roll back this awful tide of violence," Clinton said as he signed the bill into law.
The bill was a $30 billion package that was responsible for creating the Violence Against Women Act, a ten year ban on assault weapons, harsher sentencing penalties like the three strikes rule, but is also criticized for contributing significantly to mass incarceration in this country.
One of the chief authors of the bill was then-senator and now presidential candidate Joe Biden, who has defended the bill on the campaign trail.
“There’s no evidence at all that that prison boom that the crime bill subsidized did anything for crime,” said Ames Grawert, senior counsel with the Brennan Center Justice Program, which has done extensive research on the impact of the crime bill , who added it did quite a bit of good as well.
While the crime rate had already started on a sharp decline before the bill, many attribute those additional police as well as data based policing for that line continuing to fall.
“Say what you will about the parts of the crime bill that it funded prison growth. It also funded police officers,” he said, citing around 100,000 new police officers on the street.
Much of the research looking at the decline in crime points to the economy as a central reason. While there are some discrepancies, criminologists often argue more economic opportunity for people means fewer reasons to commit violent crimes.”
“Now people have more jobs and people have more stable jobs they don’t need to get illegal income from other sources," said Beidi Dong, a criminologist with George Mason University.
It could be another factor to consider as congress and presidential candidates look ahead to what new policies may keep our streets safe in the future.
https://local21news.com/news/nation-world/another-look-at-the-impact-of-the-1994-crime-bill
