The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 is an Act of Congress dealing with crime and law enforcement that became law in 1994. This crime bill was the largest crime bill in the history of the United States and consisted of 356 pages that was put together over the course of six years. The bill provided money to hire 100,000 new police officers, $9.7 billion in funding for prisons, an expansion of death penalty-eligible offenses and $6.1 billion in funding for prevention programs. The bill was signed by then President, Bill Clinton.
The bill was passed to prevent the increase of crime throughout the country. At the time, the violent crime was at an all-time high. Starting in 1987, the homicide rate in the US was increasing by 5% each year, reaching 1991 with 9.8 deaths per every 100,000 people. Many of the victims were African-American, specifically young African Americans. The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 was a law that was Hostile to Black Civil Rights. The purpose of the program was to minimize the crime rate in America but instead, a great amount of the funds were “dedicated to measures that are seen as punitive rather than rehabilitative or preventative.” Instead of helping those in prison or to keep people out of prison, the money was used to create more incarcerated spaces. Some believe that passing this law aided in mass incarceration.
“…In the 22 years since the bill was passed, the federal prison population more than doubled. In 1994, the Bureau of Prisons held 95,162 inmates; today that number is 214,149.” The bill encouraged over-policing of minority communities. For example, since the bill provided funds to hire 100,000 new police officers, meaning that there would be an abundant amount of police officers placed in different neighborhoods. Realistically, since the crime rates were increasing in black communities, the police would be placed in those communities in order to restrain the amount of violence happening. But what happens when police are strategically placed in crime ridden neighborhoods? Especially during the time of discrimination? It will result in more deaths than there were beforehand. Providing the country with a mass amount of policemen/policewomen is good when t comes to safety, but most times it hurts the minority communities rather than to help them.
The bill was also supposed to help prisoners. The bill made it harder for prisoners to obtain a higher education. “One of the more controversial provisions of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act overturned a section of the Higher Education Act of 1965 permitting prison inmates to receive a Pell Grant for higher education while they were incarcerated,” the quote explains the restriction placed on prisoners to receive education aid. The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act eliminated the ability of lower-income prison inmates to receive college educations during their term of imprisonment which meant that the education levels of inmates were not improving. That also meant that after serving time, prisoners would most likely not be able to obtain any good paying jobs because of their lack of higher education. Most prisoners at the time were African -American. This bill was seen to be another systematic way to oppress African-Americans, even while they were suffering.
Another issue with the bill was the mass incarceration lead to prison overcrowding. Yes, there was an amount provided to build more prisons, but with the over-policing and the issue of more prisoners being brought in, prisons were getting crowded. That also meant that the structure and care provided to inmates was slim. As the bill was passed, the option for prisoners to receive a plea bargain was minimized.
If a civil rights activist, such as Martin Luther King Jr., was able to see what was going on, he would feel discouraged. As someone who fought for the black community and attempted to pave the way of change for us, he would see the conditions of this country getting worse. Someone to the likes of Malcolm X, would encourage us to fight to keep making changes. The national gangs, “The Bloods” and “The Crips” were actually started in order to protect our community from the destruction that it was under because of the city officials and the discrimination. Our communities are systematically under attack and kept in restraints. The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 had more of a negative impact on the black community and minority communities than positive.
The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act aided in mass incarcerations, over-policing in black communities and other things. I believe that this was on an agenda to destroy the black community which would help the white community.
Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violent_Crime_Control_and_Law_Enforcement_Act
https://www.congress.gov/bill/103rd-congress/house-bill/3355/text
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