PROPOSED REVISIONS TO THE CRIME BILL OF 1994
The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 was signed into law by President Clinton on 13 September 1994 (Idleson, 1995, pp. 367-369). There was strong opposition to the bill in the Congress prior to its passage (Masci, 1994, pp. 2488-2492). The lunatic fringe of the Republican Party now in control of the House of Representatives appears bent on revising the Crime Bill of 1994 in ways that will split the Republican Party (Gest, 1994, pp. 31-32). The source of most of the opposition to the Crime Bill of 1994 was and remains a band of Republican legislators who would vote against a resolution praising God if such a resolution were offered by President Clinton or indeed by any Democrat. The game of political insanity being played by congressional Republicans, however, does not mean that serious and thoughtful opposition does not or should not exist in relation to various provisions of the crime bill or to the omission from that bill of various proposals dealing with crime.
This research examines the Crime Bill of 1994 and the proposed changes to the bill now being debated in the Congress. The primary focus of this examination is on the impact of the Crime Bill and the proposed revisions on the states. A more important consideration, however, is the impact of the Crime Bill and the proposed revisions on the incidence of criminal behavior in the United States. The Crime Bill and the proposed revisions to the bill are considered first; an assessment of the probable impacts of both then is presented; and conclusions on the issues are then drawn.
The Crime Bill and Proposed Revisions
One popular provision of the crime bill of 1994 is a national "three strikes and you're out" law (Idleson, 1994, pp. 893-895). The federal version of this popular law provides for the lifetime incarceration of three felony convictions where specific conditions are met. The third ...