Question in (sociology of poverty)
psychology123
FinalQuestion4.pptxPerspectives of poverty
Question 4 from from Lectures and Williams
1
Question 4
Critically discuss President Clinton’s crime bill and its effects on people of color. Also discuss the failure of the Congressional Black caucus and other Black organizations to oppose the crime bill.
“Disorder from the Bottom”
Building on growing fears among the populace that society was spinning out of control, authoritarian populism sought to impose a new regime of social discipline from above.
There was s retreat from liberal policies to victim blaming
Due to economic insecurity there was increasing fear that things were becoming out of control
Disillusion with political leaders and there is more of a move to the right to get solutions
Racist, sexist, and fundamentalist appeal in order to build support towards repressive policies
”Disorder from the bottom” is what is causing the problem and the ones at the top are not responsible
Crime
From 1960 through 1990 democrats and republicans held different views of both the perceptions/causes of, and solutions to the America’s crime situation
Crime was rooted in the broader structural forces such as discrimination, and was a symptom, not a cause of joblessness, urban decay, lack of education, and lack of hope
Institutional racism and racial inequality made societal problems worse for Blacks and generated higher crime rates in the Black community
Democrats wanted to take preventative actions
Improving education, job training, and employment opportunities
Creating more drug treatment programs
Providing anti-gang grants
Identifying bias crimes
Protecting freedom of speech and civil liberties
Republican’s perspective was that crime was a result of social pathology
More punitive criminal justice system
Capital punishment for a greater number of offenses
Longer sentences
Prosecution of youthful offenders as an adult for violent crimes
Clinton’s Crime Bill
Clinton wanted to stay between the two extremes and used a strategy of accommodation so he did not alienate his voters
Redefined crime as an issue of gun control and police funding
Polls showed strong support of gun control- 2/3 Americans want stricter law
Challenging liberals for support of civil liberties and opposition to death penalty
1992 State of the Union: “tough but smart crime bill that mixed prevention and punishment”
July 28, 1994: U.S. Senate and House of Representatives reached an agreement to allocate $30.2B for its provision over six years
Hire 100,00 new police officers
Expand the construction of new prisons
Expand the death penalty for federal crimes
Implement a 3 strike clause that would compel a life sentence for anyone convicted of 3 serious felonies under federal law
Establish ban on 19 different kinds of semiautomatic assault weapons
Establish limited appeals for death row inmates
Negative Effects of Bill
The bill increased problems of African Americans in the criminal justice system
Put 100,000 police officers on the street without addressing racial bias
African Americans whose victims were white were more likely to get death penalty than when victims were black. Whites who had white victims got equal treatment of the law
Since the reinstatement of the death penalty in 1976 nearly 40% of those executed were Black although Blacks only compromised 11% of the adult population
Crime preventive programs such as midnight basketball and other programs to benefit African Americans
In 1994, republicans took over congress and introduced more crime policies that were punitive
Warrantless searches and seizures, further elimination of funding for preventive programs and activities, and elimination of community policing
Congressional Black Caucus (CBC)
The more the CBC criticized his crime bill the more the republicans/conservatives were for it
CBC openly expressed their opposition to the bill and their intent to oppose it, stating that they would bring the government to a stop
NAACP’s Legal Defense Fund, the National Conference of Black Lawyers, and the National Black Police Association formed a coalition to opposed to bill’s passing
Racial Justice Act of 1994-allowed defendants subjected to the death penalty to use statistical data to demonstrate whether race was a significant factor in the decision to invoke death penalty
CBC realized that they did not have enough support to get RJA passes and decided to negotiate with the Clinton administration rather than mobilize mass support
Clinton lobbied Black ministers by speaking at Black churches and inviting Black ministers to the White House
Split between class. The CBC were not poor therefore class was not their concern-class trumped race
Interest groups failed to mobilize, did not campaign against the bill, had no initiation of a letter writing campaign, failed to produce new research to prove the death penalty was racially bias, failed to utilize the mass media to draw public attention to their position
