JOE BIDEN ON PRISON AND CRIME

MANDATORY MINIMUMS
IN THE 1980S AND 1990S JOE BIDEN SUPPORTED MANDATORY MINIMUMS AND INCREASED
PENALTIES FOR DRUG OFFENSES…

1982: Joe Biden Introduced Legislation Endorsed By Ronald Reagan That Included Increased
Penalties For Drug-Related Crimes. “In an attempt to obtain some kind of get-tough-on-crime legislation
in this session of Congress, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Strom Thurmond introduced a new
criminal code package Wednesday that some civil libertarians fear could endanger civil rights. The
package was immediately endorsed by President Reagan, who said it ‘contains several statutory re-forms
that are long overdue,’ including bail and sentencing reforms and tougher penalties for drug trafficking.
Thurmond, a South Carolina Republican, introduced the new bill with Sen. Joseph Biden (D., Del.), the
Judiciary Committee's ranking Democrat, and two dozen other cosponsors. ‘We believe that personal
security is equally as important as national security,’ Biden said. … Its major provisions are:
 Additional protection for witnesses and victims of crime.
 Increased penalities for drug-related crimes, including a provision that would make it a federal crime
to sell drugs within 1,000 feet of a school.
 The elimination of parole for those convicted of federal crimes.
 More discretion for judges in deciding who should be let out on bail.” [Miami Herald, 5/27/82]

Joe Biden Sponsored Legislation That Included Mandatory Minimum Sentences. “The Senate
overwhelmingly passed a massive grab-bag anticrime bill yesterday that would ban nine semi-automatic
weapons, double federal aid to state and local police forces and add thousands of agents and
prosecutors to fight drugs and savings-and-loan fraud. The bill, which passed 94-6, would also greatly
shorten the appeals process in death penalty cases and make more than 30 federal offenses, such as
treason and hostage-taking, punishable by execution. A savings-and-loan component was added at the
last minute, creating a legal category of ‘S&L kingpin’ similar to that of drug kingpin. This would allow
government agents to take control of the assets of the accused. It would provide for life imprisonment of
the worst violators and mandatory minimum sentences for other participants. ‘This is the toughest and
most comprehensive crime bill in our history,’ said Joseph R. Biden Jr., the Del-aware Democrat who is
chairman of the Judiciary Committee and was the bill's prime sponsor.” [Boston Globe, 7/12/90]

Mother Jones: Joe Biden Created The Position Of “Drug Czar,” And Played A “Major Roll” In
Passing Mandatory Minimum Sentencing In 1986. “Joe Biden created the position of ‘drug czar,’ a key
step in the drug war. As the Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee in 1986, he played a major role
in passing mandatory minimum sentencing guidelines. He was the main sponsor of the RAVE Act in 2003,
meant to crack down on MDMA use, which would have held club owners liable for providing
‘paraphernalia’ like glowsticks and water.” [Mother Jones, 10/17/14]

… BUT IN 1993, BIDEN SAID WE’VE GOT ALL THE MANDATORY MINIMUMS WE NEED

Two Years After Support Of Mandatory Minimums, Biden Said: “I Think We've Had All The
Mandatory Minimums That We Need. We Don't Need The Ones That We Have.” “Sen. Joseph Biden,
the Delaware Democrat with a fondness for debating points of law with Supreme Court nominees, can be
as pragmatic as any seasoned politician. The time could be soon, he told a ballroom full of federal judges,
lawyers and probation officers, that Congress would scrap some of the mandatory minimum sentences it
has required courts to impose in many drug cases. ‘I think we've had all the mandatory minimums that we
need. We don't need the ones that we have,’ Biden said in a candid but friendly talk at a symposium
sponsored by the U.S. Sentencing Commission. ‘But quite frankly, I don't think I will prevail. . . . I've
watched how the process works,’ continued the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. ‘I am not at
all hopeful there will be [enough] senators prepared to vote with me.’ Even so, Biden's comments
demonstrated a change in the winds blowing about mandatory minimum sentences. Two years ago,
Biden was cooperating with the Bush administration to support mandatory minimum sentences in federal
anti-crime legislation.” [ABA Journal, 10/93]

BIDEN HAS SUPPORTED CRIMINAL AND CIVIL JUSTICE REFORMS

JOE BIDEN SUPPORTED LEGISLATION TO MAKE THE CIVIL COURT SYSTEM QUICKER AND
LESS COSTLY

Joe Biden Encouraged The Creation Of A Task Force On Civil Justice Reform And Called Their
Report “Important And Encouraging.” “Judges and lawyers must do more to keep noncriminal cases in
federal courts from taking too long and costing too much, Congress was told Wednesday. ‘The excessive
cost and delay associated with litigating civil cases in America should no longer be tolerated and can be
forcefully addressed through procedural reform, more active case management by judges and better
efforts by attorneys and their clients,’ said a 39-page report prepared by a special task force. The report is
the result of a nine-month study by 36 lawyers and law professors whose effort was suggested by Sen.
Joseph Biden (D., Del.), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Biden called the report's
recommendations ‘an important and encouraging start,’ and said his committee ‘will give a high priority to
civil justice reform.’” [Chicago Tribune, 10/26/89]

 Joe Biden Introduced The Civil Justice Reform Act Of 1990 In An Attempt To Make Civil
Litigation Less Costly And Faster. “Better known as the Civil Justice Reform Act of 1990, the
proposed Biden Act has set off a rare and bitter confrontation between Joseph R. Biden, the chairman
of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and the nation's leading Federal judges. The committee staff; Mr.
Biden, Democrat of Delaware, and Strom Thurmond of South Carolina, the committee's ranking
Republican, all say the legislation is the only way to make judges manage their caseloads effectively.
It aims to make the judiciary more accountable for keeping the court system efficient. But to many
Federal judges, accountability is a buzzword for introducing politics into the Federal Rules of Civil
Procedure. The judges fear that this new method of legislating court procedure can set the dangerous
precedent of subjecting court rules to political whimsy. They contend that the act would violate the
separation of powers doctrine by having the legislature manage the workings of the courts. The
sweeping bill proposed by Senator Biden seeks to make civil litigation less costly and faster in a
variety of commercial, employment discrimination and other disputes. [New York Times, 4/16/90]

IN 1990, PRESIDENT GEORGE H.W. BUSH DID NOT FEEL BIDEN’S CRIME BILL WENT FAR
ENOUGH

President George H.W. Bush Criticized A Crime Bill From Joe Biden As Having No Teeth. “‘Today
there's another bill, a Trojan horse, standing at the gates of Congress,’ Mr. Bush said, ‘It's called S-1970.
It looks like a real crime bill. It sounds like a real crime bill. But in actuality, it will be tougher on law
enforcement than on criminals.’ Mr. Bush added, ‘We can't accept anything that rolls back the clock on
our ability to fight crime and punish wrong-doers.’ He was referring to a bill introduced by Senator Joseph
R. Biden Jr., the Delaware Democrat who is chair-man of the Senate Judiciary Committee. The
Administration contends that the Biden bill would significantly weaken the death penalty provisions and
other parts of Mr. Bush's legislation. ‘America needs a crime bill with teeth,’ Mr. Bush said. ‘This is a wolf
in sheep's clothing.’” [New York Times, 1/24/90]

1994: BIDEN AUTHORED A CRIME BILL THAT INCREASED THE NUMBER OF POLICE AND
EXPANDED THE DEATH PENALTY

Joe Biden Was Chief Author Of 1994 Crime Bill That Increased Number Of Police, Eliminated Pell
Grants For Prisoners, And Expanded The Death Penalty. “Biden was the chief author of the 1994
crime bill, which vastly increased the number of police officers on American streets, eliminated Pell Grants
for prisoners, expanded the federal death penalty and upped the Border Patrol presence (recall that this
bill was passed around the same time as NAFTA, which increased migration from Mexico).” [Zaid Jilani,
AlterNet, 12/7/14]
JOE BIDEN SUPPORTED ELIMINATING THE SENTENCING DISPARITY BETWEEN COCAINE AND
CRACK

2007: Joe Biden Introduced Legislation That Would Eliminate The Sentencing Disparity Between
Crack And Power Forms Of Cocaine. “U.S. Senator Joseph R. Biden, Jr. (D-DE), Chairman of the
Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Drugs and the Senate Caucus on International Narcotics
Control, introduced today the Drug Sentencing Reform and Cocaine Kingpin Trafficking Act of 2007,
legislation to eliminate the current sentencing disparity between the crack and powder forms of cocaine.”
[Press Release, Office of Senator Joe Biden, 6/27/07]

 Joe Biden’s Legislation Included Elimination Of Mandatory Minimum Sentencing For Simple
Possession Of 5 Grams Or More Of Crack. “Biden also included the Sentencing Commission
recommendation to eliminate the mandatory minimum sentence for simple possession of 5 grams or
more of crack, as crack is the only drug to mandate a prison sentence for possession alone. While
supporters might argue that the possession penalty is tough on drugs, the Sentencing Commission
pointed out how weak the crack possession penalty actually is: ‘an offender who simply possesses 5
grams of crack cocaine receives the same 5-year mandatory minimum penalty as a trafficker of other
drugs.’” [San Francisco Chronicle, 7/10/07]

Joe Biden: “I Am Not Only The Guy Who Did The Crime Bill And The Drug Czar, But I’m Also The
Guy Who Spent Years When I Was Chairman Of The Judiciary Committee And Chairman Of [The
Senate Foreign Relations Committee] Trying To Change Drug Policy Relative To Cocaine, For
Example, Crack And Powder.” “In the Senate, Biden was on the forefront of the Democratic Party’s war
on crime, authoring or co-sponsoring legislation that created the federal ‘drug czar’ and mandatory
minimum sentencing for marijuana and the sentencing disparity for crack and powder cocaine. ‘I am not
only the guy who did the crime bill and the drug czar, but I’m also the guy who spent years when I was
chairman of the Judiciary Committee and chairman of [the Senate Foreign Relations Committee] trying to
change drug policy relative to cocaine, for example, crack and powder,’ Biden says.” [TIME, 2/6/14]

Mother Jones: “To His Credit, Joe Biden Himself Has Pushed For Reducing The Longstanding
Sentencing Disparity Between Crack And Regular Cocaine, But Possession Of 28 Grams Of Crack
Still Triggers A Five-Year Minimum Sentence.” [Mother Jones, 10/17/14]

BIDEN DID NOT SUPPORT MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION AS VICE PRESIDENT

A FORMER OBAMA ADMINISTRATION TOP ADVISOR ON MARIJUANA POLICY, FELT BIDEN

Kevin Sabet, Former Top Advisor On Marijuana In The Obama Administration, Said That As Long
As Joe Biden Was Vice President, The Obama Administration Would Take A Hardline On Drug
Policy. “‘There are not many friends to legalization in this administration,’ says Kevin Sabet, director of
the Drug Policy Institute at the University of Florida who served the White House as a top adviser on
marijuana policy. In fact, the politician who coined the term ‘drug czar’ – Joe Biden – continues to guide
the administration's hard-line drug policy. ‘The vice president has a special interest in this issue,’ Sabet
says. ‘As long as he is vice president, we're very far off from legalization being a reality.’” [Rolling Stone,
12/7/12]

VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN SUPPORTED SMARTER ENFORCEMENT OF MARIJUANA LAWS

Joe Biden Said The Obama Administration Supported Smarter Enforcement Of Marijuana Laws.
“Just weeks after President Barack Obama told the New Yorker that the drug is no more dangerous than
alcohol, Biden said the Administration supports smarter enforcement, but not outright legalization. ‘I think
the idea of focusing significant resources on interdicting or convicting people for smoking marijuana is a
waste of our resources,’ Biden told TIME in an interview aboard an Amtrak train on the way to an event in
Philadelphia. ‘That’s different than [legalization]. Our policy for our Administration is still not legalization,
and that is [and] continues to be our policy.’” [TIME, 2/6/14]

Obama Administration Called For Criminal Justice Reform

President Obama Called For Criminal Justice Reform In 2015 State Of The Union. “President Barack
Obama used part of his State on the Union address on Tuesday to call for bipartisan criminal justice
reform. Obama referenced the protests over the deaths of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and Eric
Garner in New York last year, and said that while people may have differing opinions on those tragedies,
there is room for agreement on criminal justice reform more broadly.” [Huffington Post, 1/15/15]

Joe Biden Private Prison Donations

Since 1998, Corrections Corp Has Not Donated To Joe Biden. [Opensecrets, accessed 4/28/15]

Since 1998, Geo Group Has Not Donated To Joe Biden. [Opensecrets, accessed 4/28/15]