California Is Proving That The 1994 Crime Bill Worked

In 1993, America's violent crime and homicides hit all time records.  In response, the then-President Bill Clinton signed into law the massive "Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994".  Known simply today as the Crime Bill of 1994.

While the bill had many provisions, those that provided mandatory minimum sentences and the 3-strikes rule have come under fire in recent years.  The reason is that these provisions have been blamed for the overcrowding of our prisons.  This problem, known politically as "mass incarcerations," has been a key issue for the likes of Hillary Clinton who wants to, according to her website: "End the era of mass incarceration, reform mandatory minimum sentences, and end private prisons". Even her husband, who signed the Crime Bill, has publicly stated his regrets for that law.  Both bowing to the pressures being exerted by activists in this election year.

Of course, leave it to Californians to take matters into their own hands and reduce their "mass incarceration" problem with the passage of the ballot initiative known as "Proposition 47" and the passage of Assembly Bill "AB109".  The result of which made certain that some crimes would be downgraded to misdemeanor status with only limited jail time rather than  prison; and that other prisoners would see early releases.

While California may have seen their prison overcrowding problems reduced, in Nevada -- especially in Clark County where Las Vegas is situated -- crime is going through the roof, The murder rate in Clark County is double what it was last year. California's leniency in sentencing, is at least partly to blame.   That's because many of the newly arrested were from California, and were also beneficiaries of Proposition 47 and AB109.  Also, Los Angeles, too, has seen its crime rate spike.  But, supporters of Proposition 47 point out that spiking crime rates exist in many major cities such as Chicago, and therefore, "47" shouldn't be singled out as the reason.

Here's the simple fact.  The study by the Bureau of Justice statistics found that 56% of those arrested for violent crimes had prior arrest records.  Thus, if you "early out" criminals, there is definitely going to be a higher incidence of crime; and especially murder.  I think California is definitely proving that the 1994 Crime Bill was the right thing to do.   Especially when you consider that gun-related murders in this country, have fallen from 18,253 in 1993 to 8,124 in in 2014.  A 75% reduction.

Do we really want to go back to the good old days of 1993 by putting criminals back on the streets?

References:

Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violent_Crime_Control_and_Law_Enforcement_Act

Bill Clinton renounces his 1994 crime bill: http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/241247-bill-clinton-renounces-his-1994-crime-bill

Hillary Clinton on the Issues: Criminal Justice Reform: https://www.hillaryclinton.com/issues/criminal-justice-reform/

California Proposition 47: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Proposition_47_(2014)

Overview of AB109: http://www.cdcr.ca.gov/realignment/docs/realignment-fact-sheet.pdf

Las Vegas Blames California For Spike In Crimes: http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2016/05/19/las-vegas-blames-california-for-spike-in-crimes/

Homicides increase 100 percent in Clark County between 2015 and 2016: http://news3lv.com/news/local/homicides-increase-100-percent-in-clark-county-between-2015-and-2016

Here's Where L.A.'s Biggest Crime Increases Are Happening: http://www.laweekly.com/news/heres-where-las-biggest-crime-increases-are-happening-6549370

Bureau of Justice Statistics: http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/ascii/vfluc.txt

Gun related murders 1993: https://www.google.com/search?q=gun+related+murders+1993&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8

FBI: Murder Victims By Weapon Type: https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2014/crime-in-the-u.s.-2014/tables/expanded-homicide-data/expanded_homicide_data_table_8_murder_victims_by_weapon_2010-2014.xls

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.: An ISIS-Like Terrorist For Climate Change

One thing that should rile any champion of freedom, free speech, and free association, is the fact that ISIS is forcing non-Muslims to convert to Islam by telling them that they have to either convert or die.  In a way, Robert Kennedy Jr. is no better than ISIS when it comes to protecting  the freedoms that we all enjoy. Listen  to this asinine rant by this radical liberal regarding those who are climate change deniers or who are guilty (in his mind) of damaging the planet with businesses that produce CO2:



Sadly, this only shows that he and other climate alarmists are getting more and more frustrated by the fact that their cause is losing ground in the court of public opinion. So like any non-democratic dictator, tyrant, or bully, he wants any and all opposing thought to be shutdown by threatening those who disagree with jail time.

His targeting of the Koch Brothers for profiting from the oil business merely shows how politically motivated this Kennedy family fool is.  The Koch's are just 2 people out of thousands who are profiting from oil in this country.  But, because they are billionaires who give money to Republicans, Kennedy finds them more offensive than any other executives that he and others have labelled polluters.

By the way.  Kennedy receives royalty checks from three oil companies that he and the rest of the Kennedy clan own outright: Mokeen Oil, Kenoil and, the Arctic Royalty Limited Partnership.  Maybe, he too, like the Koch's, should be jailed for destroying the planet and profiting from it.

Lastly, Koch Industries was founded in 1940; almost 50 years prior to the world even talking about global warming and climate change.   Somehow, Kennedy now thinks that the father of the Koch brothers should have seen global warming coming and should not have started that evil oil producing and oil products conglomerate in 1940. It was companies like Koch Industries that provided the oil and materials that helped defeat the Nazis and the Japanese in World War II.

Reference: Live Leak:  Oil Company Owner, Robert Kennedy Jr. Rants Against Oil Companies, PJ Media Video Confrontation:  http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=ace_1411422073

Koch Industries:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koch_Industries