This year marks 30 years since the passage of the 1994 Crime Bill, arguably the most significant bill addressing crime in U.S. history.
The bill — and the many state and local laws it incentivized — was passed during an era marred by fearmongering and rallying cries for the nation to get “tough on crime.” We’re seeing the same thing now in Washington, D.C., where, as violent crime has increased, politicians are again extolling tough-on-crime rhetoric on behalf of “the people.” As civic leaders watching this rhetoric resurge we feel compelled to speak for ourselves.
What many knew in 1994 — that the policies being advanced would lead to mass incarceration, greater racial disparities and less humane treatment throughout the criminal justice system, all without producing improvements in public safety — has since been borne out through evidence.
We are still, literally, paying the price for those policies. Decades of being tough on crime is costing the nation more than…
Read the full story from the Washington Business Journal.
