Longtime advocate of death penalty, with restrictions
Clinton has been a longtime advocate of the death penalty. Clinton cosponsored the Innocence Protection Act of 2003 which became law in 2004 as part of the Justice for All Act. The bill provides funding for post-conviction
DNA testing and establishes a DNA testing process for individuals sentenced to the death penalty under federal law. As first lady, she lobbied for President Clinton's crime bill, which expanded the list of crimes subject to the federal death penalty.
Source: Pew Forum on Religion and Politics 2008
Jan 1, 2008
Address the unacceptable increase in incarceration
Q: Some people say your husband's crime bill is one of the primary factors behind the rising incarceration rate for blacks and Latinos. It earmarked $8 billion dollars for prisons and continued a trend to harsher sentencing. Do you regret how this has
affected the black community?
A: I think that the results--not only at the federal level but at the state level--have been an unacceptable increase in incarceration across the board & now we have to address that. At the time, there were reasons why the
Congress wanted to push through a certain set of penalties and increase prison construction and there was a lot of support for that across a lot of communities. It's hard to remember now but the crime rate in the early 1990s was very high.
But we've got to take stock now of the consequences, so that's why I want to have a thorough review of all of the penalties, of all the kinds of sentencing, and more importantly start having more diversion and having more second chance programs.
We do have to go after racial profiling. I've supported legislation to try to tackle that.
We have to go after mandatory minimums. You know, mandatory sentences for certain violent crimes may be appropriate,
but it has been too widely used. And it is using now a discriminatory impact.
We need diversion, like drug courts. Non-violent offenders should not be serving hard time in our prisons. They need to be diverted from our prison system.
Source: 2007 Democratic Primary Debate at Howard University
Jun 28, 2007
Pushed to expand AMBER alerts & for stricter sex penalties
Over the last several years, there has been a dramatic increase in media stories of abducted & abused children. Where there has not been an increase in the overall numbers of such cases, many families, and children, are more fearful. I have pushed for
legislation that would appoint a national coordinator for AMBER alerts, and alert system for missing children; provide additional protections for children, and establish stricter punishments for sex offenders. That legislation passed the Congress in 2003
Source: 2006 intro to It Takes A Village, by H. Clinton, p.303
Dec 12, 2006
Tap into churches to avoid more Louima & Diallo cases
I would like to add my voice and influence to those who are attempting to bridge the divide between police officers, who have a difficult and dangerous job of fighting crime, and the people in the neighborhoods who feel they are treated
unfairly and disrepectfully. The Louima and Diallo cases were not just horrific, but symptomatic of problems in the city’s overall approach to policing. The real challenge is to to adjust the approach-change the climate so that
policing is both effective and respectful. There is also a need to for the police to engage the law-abiding members of the community,thus making them a part of the overall plan. In so many communities, no institution has more influence
than the neighborhood church, mosque, or synagogue. We must tap into this potential in New York.
Source: New York Times, A29
Mar 9, 2000
Supports citizen patrols & 3-Strikes-You're-Out
The first step is to take weapons off the streets and to put more police on them. 25,000 new police officers are being trained, with the goal of adding 75,000 more by the end of the decade. Taking a cue from what's worked in the past, cities are
deploying officers differently, getting them out from behind desks and putting them back on the sidewalks, where they can get to know the people who live and work on the streets they patrol. They will be doing what is called "community policing."
The other half of community policing, of course, is the community's role. Citizens have to be active participants in crime prevention.
In Houston, nearly a thousand new officers added to the city's police force since 1991 have been joined by thousands of citizen patrollers observing and reporting suspicious or criminal behavior in an anticrime campaign.
There is something wrong when a crime bill takes six years to work its way through Congress and the average criminal serves only four.
We need more police,
we need more and tougher prison sentences for repeat offenders. The three strikes and you’re out for violent offenders has to be part of the plan. We need more prisons to keep violent offenders for as long as it takes to keep them off the streets.
Source: Unique Voice, p.189-90: Remarks at Annual Women in Policing
Aug 10, 1994
Voted YES on reinstating $1.15 billion funding for the COPS Program.
Amendment would increase funding for the COPS Program to $1.15 billion for FY 2008 to provide state and local law enforcement with critical resources. The funding is offset by an unallocated reduction to non-defense discretionary spending.
Proponents recommend voting YES because:
This amendment reinstates the COPS Program. I remind everyone, when the COPS Program was functioning, violent crime in America reduced 8.5% a year for 7 years in a row. Throughout the 1990s, we funded the COPS Program at roughly $1.2 billion, and it drove down crime. Now crime is rising again. The COPS Program in the crime bill worked, and the Government Accounting Office found a statistical link between the COPS grants and a reduction in crime.
The Brookings Institution reported the COPS Program is one of the most cost-effective programs we have ever had in this country. Local officials urgently need this support.
Opponents recommend voting NO because:
The COPS Program has some history. It was started by President Clinton. He asked for 100,000 police officers. He said that when we got to 100,000, the program would stop. We got to 110,000 police officers and the program continues on and on and on.
This program should have ended 5 years ago or 6 years ago, but it continues. It is similar to so many Federal programs that get constituencies that go on well past what their original purpose was. It may be well intentioned, but we cannot afford it and we shouldn't continue it. It was never thought it would be continued this long.
More funding and stricter sentencing for hate crimes.
Clinton co-sponsored the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act:
Title: To provide Federal assistance to States and local jurisdictions to prosecute hate crimes.
Summary: Provide technical, forensic, prosecutorial, or other assistance in the criminal investigation or prosecution of any violent crime that is motivated by prejudice based on the race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, or disability of the victim or is a violation of hate crime laws.
Award grants to assist State and local law enforcement officials with extraordinary expenses for interstate hate crimes.
Award grants to State and local programs designed to combat hate crimes committed by juveniles.
Prohibit specified offenses involving actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, or disability.
Increase criminal sentencing for adult recruitment of juveniles to commit hate crimes.
Collect and publish data about crimes that manifest evidence of prejudice based on gender.
Source: House Resolution Sponsorship 01-HR1343 on Apr 3, 2001
Require DNA testing for all federal executions.
Clinton co-sponsored the Innocence Protection Act:
Title: To reduce the risk that innocent persons may be executed.
Summary: Authorizes a person convicted of a Federal crime to apply for DNA testing to support a claim that the person did not commit:
the Federal crime of which the person was convicted; or
any other offense that a sentencing authority may have relied upon when it sentenced the person with respect to such crime.
Prohibits a State from denying an application for DNA testing made by a prisoner in State custody who is under sentence of death if specified conditions apply.
Provides grants to prosecutors for DNA testing programs.
Establishes the National Commission on Capital Representation.
Withholds funds from States not complying with standards for capital representation.
Provides for capital defense incentive grants and resource grants.
Increases compensation in Federal cases, and sets forth provisions regarding compensation in State cases, where an individual is unjustly sentenced to death.
Adds a certification requirement in Federal death penalty prosecutions.
Expresses the sense of Congress regarding the execution of juvenile offenders and the mentally retarded.
Source: House Resolution Sponsorship 01-HR912 on Mar 7, 2001
Rated 75% by the NCJA, indicating a mixed record on criminal justice.
Clinton scores 75% by the NCJA on crime issues
OnTheIssues.org interprets the 2005 NCJA scores as follows:
0%- 74%: "soft-on-crime" record (approx. 133 members)
75%- 84%: mixed record on criminal justice (approx. 114 members)
85%-100%: "tough-on-crime" record (approx. 216 members)
About the NCJA (from their website, www.ncja.org):
The National Criminal Justice Association (NCJA) exists to promote the development of justice systems in states, tribal nations, and units of local government that enhance public safety; prevent and reduce the harmful effects of criminal and delinquent behavior on victims, individuals and communities; adjudicate defendants and sanction offenders fairly and justly; and that are effective and efficient.
Toward this end, the Association:
Maintains the focus of state, tribal, local and federal governments on the needs of the criminal and juvenile justice systems;
Represents state, tribal, and local criminal and juvenile justice system concerns to the federal government;
Provides support for the development of criminal and juvenile justice policy for the nation's governors and tribal leaders;
Supports the public and all levels of government in the achievement of public safety by the coordination of education, community and social service systems, in addition to law enforcement and criminal justice measures;
Serves as a catalyst for the careful consideration and promotion of effective and efficient criminal and juvenile justice policies and practices;
Advocates for the commitment of adequate resources to support all components of the criminal and juvenile justice systems; and
Coordinates between the different branches and levels of government and promotes broad philosophical agreement.
