Joe Biden's signature 1986 and 1994 Omnibus Crime Bill

wreaked havoc in the courts among judges, and flooded the prison system.

It created MANDATORY MINIMUMS for cocaine drug offenses.

Soon after passage in 1986 the disparity was realized.

Biden defended the law which took decades to finally be fixed.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/how-an-early-biden-crime-bill-created-the-sentencing-disparity-for-crack-and-cocaine-trafficking/2019/07/28/5cbb4c98-9dcf-11e9-85d6-5211733f92c7_story.html

https://archive.is/Zvyx9

The new form of cocaine was called crack, and by the summer of 1986 it was fueling fears of a drug epidemic.

Mayors pleaded for federal help to protect inner-city neighborhoods from traffickers. Black clergy members held vigils on street corners in New York City, calling cocaine a “new form of genocide.” In Washington, Democrats charged that the Reagan administration was surrendering the fight.

A 44-year-old Democratic senator from Delaware with a growing national profile stepped forward with a bill aimed at heading off the crisis.

The bipartisan legislation crafted by Joe Biden, which authorized new funding for drug treatment programs and stricter penalties for drug offenses, passed overwhelmingly, with the support of most black lawmakers, and was signed into law by President Ronald Reagan.

Later, a little-noticed provision in the law came to be viewed as one of the most racially slanted sentencing policies on record: a rule that treated crack cocaine as significantly worse than powder cocaine and ended up disproportionately punishing African Americans.

“It was a big mistake when it was made,” Biden said during a speech in January, referring to the measure that created broad sentencing disparities between crack and powder cocaine. “We were told by the experts… that [crack] was somehow fundamentally different. It is not different. But it has trapped an entire generation.”

>>10693188

>>10693219

https://www.ussc.gov/sites/default/files/pdf/training/annual-national-training-seminar/2009/016b_Road_to_1_to_1.pdf

THE CRACK SENTENCING DISPARITY AND THE ROAD TO 1:1

The Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 (“the 1986 Act”) initiated the disparate treatment between crack and powder cocaine.

At that time, crack cocaine was believed to be more problematic and dangerous than powder. Based on these mistaken beliefs, the 1986 Act authorized a 100-to-1 ratio sentencing scheme, which equated a single gram of crack with 100 grams of powder. No rationale for the ratio was discussed in the

legislative history.

The newly created United States Sentencing Commission simply adopted the 1986 Act’s sentencing scheme without utilizing the required empirical approach founded upon past sentencing practices. United States v. Kimbrough, 128 S. Ct. at 567, see U.S.S.G. § 1A1.1, cmt. pt. A, P3.

However, since then, the Sentencing Commission repeatedly acknowledged the unwarranted disparity.

In a series of reports, the Sentencing Commission recognized distinct problems

with the presumptions in the 1986 Act and attempted to remedy them. In 1995, the

Sentencing Commission found the crack/powder disparity inconsistent with the 1986 Act’s concerns about penalizing serious drug traffickers more severely than street-level dealers. It found that a disparity resulted in “retail crack dealers get[ting] longer sentences than the wholesale drug distributors who supply them the powder cocaine.”

Based on these findings, the Sentencing Commission proposed a reduction to the

crack/powder differential which would have changed the ratio from 100-to-1 to 1-to-1.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDIG688dpks

"I'm not giving Joe Biden cover":

Rep. Clyburn explains his 1994 crime bill vote

Jun 21, 2019

Joe Biden clip:

"Barak and I finally reduced the disparity in sentencing, which we'd been fighting to eliminate in crack cocaine vs powder cocaine. It was a big mistake when it was made. We thought we were told by the experts (sic) that 'crack you never go back.'

It was somehow fundamentally different. Well, it's not. It's not different. But it's trapped an entire generation."

>>10693256

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8EjjK_8IiM

“It Shattered My Life”: Former Joe Biden Staffer Tara Reade Says He Sexually Assaulted Her in 1993

Mar 31, 2020

@04:30 - "he tended to smile when he was angry"

@05:00 - "he pointed his finger at me and said,

"You're nothing to me. You're nothing.""

"I remember sitting on the stairs near the windows, shaking.

I knew he was angry at me. I knew my career was probably over.

I didn't comply. And I didn't comply by serving drinks at a cocktail party for donors. He had told a staffer that I had pretty legs and so I should serve the drinks. My supervisor encouraged me to do this, and I did not."

She was traumatized by her predicament after Biden assaulted her.

I lost my job after I filed a complaint.

@11:40 - she went to a group called "Times Up" who helped her initially, referred her to public relations firm, she found out it was all connected to Joe Biden, Anita Dunn, Harvey Weinstein

She felt betrayed.

Reade says she learned from The Intercept report that the public relations firm representing Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund is SKDKnickerbocker, whose managing director, Anita Dunn, is top adviser to Biden’s presidential campaign.

>>10693295

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlLhZPgwuqM

Part 1

As Joe Biden Hints at Presidential Run,

Andrew Cockburn Looks at His “Disastrous Legislative Legacy”

Mar 13, 2019

"No Joe" - DC Editor, Cockburn's article on Harper's magazine

Biden's history:

1. In 1970's he was fiercely opposed to bussing for school integration, and sided with Strom Thurman, a Dixiecrat segregationist

2. In 80's & 90's his major initiative was being tough on crime.

He argued strongly for tougher sentences.

He tried to introduce 51 new categories for the death penalty.

The drug bill Biden authored created a disparity between crack cocaine (used by poor blacks) and powdered cocaine (used by elites).

He strongly supported Clinton's crime law that incarcerated a whole generation of young black people.

@03:00

1. Chairman Biden refused to allow Anita Hill to bring witnesses, and assured Clarence Thomas seat on the Supreme Court.

2. Eliminated the ability to declare bankruptcy on student loans.

however

1. He catered to banks and credit card companies, his major donors.

And Delaware is the on-shore version of the Cayman Islands.

Biden tends to not talk about that very much.

1. As vice-president Biden may have influenced ? the handling of the scandal on the Wall Street crash of 2008.

Not one person went to jail over it. Rather, they got bonuses.

Biden's Senate replacement introduced a bill to break up banks and got no support from Biden.

1. On foreign policy, Biden helped to maintain a corrupt government in Iraq, which contributed to the forming of Isis.

>>10693316

Part 2 - Democracy Now interview

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8TkDorYCIc

Begins with video of Biden's argument on the floor for his crime bill.

"it doesn't matter" what a person's problems are or what damage society has made to them

"it doesn't matter if they were deprived as a youth"

"it doesn't matter that they had no background" to enable them

"it doesn't matter if they are some victims of society"

"the end result is" they are about to assault someone I love

"I don't even want to ask. They must be taken off the street."

"If we don't take them off the street they will become

the predators 15 years from now."

"And Madam President, we have, in fact, predators on our streets

that our society has, in fact, in part because of its neglect, created."

Amy:

Biden pushed a 2005 bill making it harder for consumers to declare bankruptcy. His top donor 1989 to 2010 was credit issuer MDNA.

Andrew Cockburn:

1. The 1986 Crime Bill was Biden's signature issue.

He teamed up with Strom Thurmond, a strong segregationist.

He was constantly wanting a new hearing on crime and drugs.

"When people hear the words 'crime and drugs'

I want them to think 'Joe Biden.'"

1. he voted to repeal Glass-Steagal

2. he has apologized for many of his bad decisions

3. rather than a friend of the working man

he's been a better friend of the financial industry

06:00

1. tells a story about Neil Canuck of Britain giving speech

that Biden (or his staff) plagurized

Canuck was known as "the Irish Windbag."

"It was one windbag (Biden) plagurizing another."

1. on Iraq: Biden held sham hearings on Iraq

and assisted Bush in the push to illegally invade Iraq

He was all for war and all for long-term occupation.

1. As Vice Pres., Biden got the file on Ukraine and Iraq.

2. Son, Hunter, had extensive business ties in Ukraine.

3. Biden was ardently for the expansion of NATO in the 90s

which tended towards a new cold war.

Biden 2002: "I don't believe this is a rush to war.

I believe it is a march to peace and security."

1. John McCain was his best friend in the Senate.

2. He plagurized Canuck, Robert Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr.

3. He's not an effective campaigner.

4. He hates preparation. He hates debate prep.

5. He's not a great fundraiser. He doesn't like cow-towing to big donors.

6. He's got such an inflated ego, that he just wants to be anointed.

He'd rather be begged to take office than run a hard campaign.

1. He's got a serious "me too" problem, with much evidence of his fondling.

2. long discussion about the Clarence Thomas confirmation hearings

video of Biden's questions to Anita Hill

"what was the most embarrassing encounter with Mr. Thomas?"

(the woman behind Ms. Hill is a HRC double, fer shure)

1. He never really apologizes. It would interfere with his self image.

He sees himself as a champion of civil rights and the working man.

1. He gave the eulogy at Strom Thurmond's funeral.

2. He was not a disciplined character in the White House.

The staff was always having to corral him and get him to concentrate.