U.S. Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) said Tuesday that America’s “dysfunctional” criminal justice system is not just a result of outdated drug laws, policing issues, poverty or racial bias—it is all of the above.
His comments were directed at the legacy of the “Violent Crime and Law Enforcement Act,” broad legislation that overhauled the American criminal justice system.
“With the 1994 crime bill a lot of people thought they were doing the right thing for communities…but I think it was dealing with symptoms of problems, not the core root of them,” Sen. Booker told an audience of researchers, activists and criminal justice experts at the George Washington University Jack Morton Auditorium.
“The biggest crime bill in the history of this country—that sent billions of dollars into the prison system but didn’t have the kind of investments in the things that we now know work—diversion programs through reentry programs—was a stunning mistake.”
Policy reform nonprofit the Vera Institute of Justice convened Sen. Booker and like-minded reformers to explore the complicated history of the bill, which was signed into law in 1994 by former President Bill Clinton in response to a national spike in crime.
Among other things, the crime bill expanded the death penalty to cover nearly 60 offenses, instituted longer minimum sentences, initiated a “Three Strikes” law and adult prosecution for juveniles convicted of certain violent crimes.
The conference was the culmination of the institute’s “Justice in Focus; Crime Bill @20” project.
“For the past six months, we have used this anniversary to explore what that legislation taught us, what it accomplished, what it didn’t and how we’ve gotten smarter over the past 20 years,” said Vera Institute President Nick Turner.
Vera Institute for Justice President Nick Turner opened the program with a call to participants to find a "Path Forward" for the American criminal justice system.
Sen. Booker and other participants said that an improved justice system would require investment in law enforcement training and re-entry and rehabilitation programs for convicted criminals.
Panelists also championed sentencing reform that would reduce the minimum amount of time served, alternative sentencing programs, flexible parole and better record keeping among law enforcement agencies.
Currently, 2.4 million Americans are incarcerated—a result of the bill’s stringent policies, according to Robert Rubin, former secretary of the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
Mr. Rubin, whose segment was moderated by E. J. Dionne Jr., a Washington Post columnist and a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, added that though some experts believe the declining crime rate is the result of the “tough on crime” bill, data from the National Research Council shows that the “link is marginal.”
Reform would reduce the cost associated with incarceration—both human and economic—Mr. Rubin said.
“Sixty percent of those released don’t have a job a year later, and it’s our fault because we are not preparing them for reentry,” Mr. Rubin said. “All of this is going to cost money, but there isn’t any question we would save—this isn’t social welfare spending, this is public investment.”
Laurie Robinson, an assistant attorney general with the Department of Justice, proposed improvement to community policing by training police to act with a “guardian mindset” rather than a “warrior mindset.”
Ms. Robinson served under former Attorney General Janet Reno when the Crime Bill was passed. She was named co-chair of President Barack Obama’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing last December. A task force interim report released in March offers recommendations to improve the tense relations between police and communities by emphasizing “procedural justice.”
“Procedural justice is fair treatment— making sure people know why something is happening,” Ms. Robinson said. “Research shows that the way people are treated is far more important than the outcome.”
Fair treatment of communities of color by police has been a hot-button issue following events in Ferguson, Mo., which was the focus of a recent Justice Department report describing institutional racial bias in policing. Sen. Booker said that biased policing is unacceptable.
“Many young African Americans feel like they’re under police siege in their own cities,” he said.
Sen. Booker said Congress should make a “large leap” in developing reform policies. He is a co-sponsor the “Record Expungement Designed to Enhance Employment Act” (REDEEM), which aims to help convicted criminals—with a focus on juvenile offenders—avoid relapsing into criminal behavior. The senator said that he would be “disappointed” if the current Congress does not—at least—reform minimum sentencing laws.
“The saying is that progress does not come from Washington, it comes to Washington,” Sen. Booker said. “The more that we are all involved in the larger cause of creating sensible, just criminal justice laws, the more we’ll be able to get done.”