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{{short description|US federal law}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2020}}
{{Infobox U.S. legislation
| name = Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994
| fullname = An Act to Control and Prevent Crime
| acronym =
| nickname = 1994 Crime Bill, Clinton Crime Bill, Biden Crime Law
| enacted by = 103rd
| effective date =
| public law url =
| cite public law = {{USPL|103|322}}
| cite statutes at large = {{USStat|108|1796}}
| acts amended =
| acts repealed =
| title amended = [[Title 12 of the United States Code|12 U.S.C.: Banks and Banking]]
[[Title 18 of the United States Code|18 U.S.C.: Crimes and Criminal Procedure]]
[[Title 42 of the United States Code|42 U.S.C.: Public Health and Social Welfare]] 
| sections created = {{Usc-title-chap|42|136}} 
| sections amended =
| leghisturl = http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d103:HR03355:@@@S
| introducedin = House
| introducedbill = {{USBill|103|HR|3355}}
| introducedby = [[Jack Brooks (American politician)|Jack Brooks]] ([[Democratic Party (United States)|D]]-[[Texas|TX]])
| introduceddate = October 26, 1993
| committees = [[United States House Committee on the Judiciary|House Judiciary]]
| passedbody1 = House
| passeddate1 = November 3, 1993
| passedvote1 = [[voice vote]]
| passedbody2 = Senate
| passedas2 = 
| passeddate2 = November 19, 1993
| passedvote2 = [https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=103&session=1&vote=00384 95–4], in lieu of {{USBill|103|S|1607}}
| conferencedate = August 10 and 21, 1994
| passedbody3 = House
| passeddate3 = August 21, 1994
| passedvote3 = [http://clerk.house.gov/evs/1994/roll416.xml 235–195]
| passedbody4 = Senate
| passeddate4 = August 25, 1994
| passedvote4 = [https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=103&session=2&vote=00295 61–38]
| signedpresident = [[Bill Clinton]]
| signeddate = September 13, 1994
| amendments =
| SCOTUS cases =
}}
{{USgunlegalbox}}
{{Joe Biden series}}
The '''Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994''', commonly referred to as the '''1994 Crime Bill''',<ref>{{Cite news|last=Kessler|first=Glenn|date=May 16, 2019|title=Joe Biden's defense of the 1994 crime bill's role in mass incarcerations|language=en-US|work=[[The Washington Post]]|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/05/16/joe-bidens-defense-crime-bills-role-incarceration-trend/|access-date=October 6, 2020|issn=0190-8286}}</ref> the '''Clinton Crime Bill''',<ref>{{Cite news|last=Lussenhop|first=Jessica|date=April 18, 2016|title=Why is Clinton crime bill so controversial?|language=en-GB|work=[[BBC News]]|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-36020717|access-date=October 6, 2020}}</ref> or the '''Biden Crime Law''',<ref>{{Cite web|last=Fifield|first=Anna|date=January 4, 2013|title=Biden faces key role in second term|url=https://www.ft.com/content/412f47b0-5694-11e2-aad0-00144feab49a|access-date=October 6, 2020|website=[[Financial Times]]}}</ref> is an [[Act of Congress]] dealing with crime and law enforcement; it became law in 1994. It is the largest crime bill in the history of the United States and consisted of 356 pages that provided for 100,000 new police officers, $9.7 billion in funding for prisons and $6.1 billion in funding for prevention programs, which were designed with significant input from experienced police officers.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.ncjrs.gov/txtfiles/billfs.txt | title=Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 | publisher=National criminal justice reference service}}</ref> Sponsored by [[United States House of Representatives|U.S. Representative]] [[Jack Brooks (American politician)|Jack Brooks]] of [[Texas]],<ref>{{Cite web|last=Brooks|first=Jack B.|date=September 13, 1994|title=H.R.3355 - 103rd Congress (1993-1994): Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994|url=https://www.congress.gov/bill/103rd-congress/house-bill/3355|access-date=October 20, 2020|website=U.S. Congress}}</ref> the bill was passed by [[United States Congress|Congress]] and signed into law by [[President of the United States|President]] [[Bill Clinton]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994|url=https://history.house.gov/Historical-Highlights/1951-2000/The-Violent-Crime-Control-and-Law-Enforcement-Act-of-1994/|access-date=October 20, 2020|website=History, Art & Archives|publisher=US House of Representatives|language=en}}</ref> Then-Senator [[Joe Biden]] of [[Delaware]] drafted the Senate version of the legislation in cooperation with the [[National Association of Police Organizations]], also incorporating the [[Violence Against Women Act]] (VAWA) with Senator [[Orrin Hatch]].<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite web|last=Law|first=Tara|date=September 12, 2019|title=The Violence Against Women Act Was Signed 25 Years Ago. Here's How the Law Changed American Culture|url=https://time.com/5675029/violence-against-women-act-history-biden/|access-date=October 20, 2020|website=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]}}</ref>

Following the [[101 California Street shooting]], the 1993 [[Waco Siege]], and other high-profile instances of [[violent crime]], the Act expanded [[federal law]] in several ways. One of the most noted sections was the [[Federal Assault Weapons Ban]]. Other parts of the Act provided for a greatly expanded [[Capital punishment by the United States federal government|federal death penalty]], new classes of individuals banned from possessing firearms, and a variety of new crimes defined in [[statute]]s relating to [[hate crime]]s, [[sex and the law|sex crimes]], and [[gang]]-related crime. The bill also required states to establish [[sex offender registries in the United States|registries for sexual offenders]] by September 1997.

== Origins ==
During the [[Bill Clinton 1992 presidential campaign|1992 presidential campaign]], Bill Clinton sought to reposition the Democratic Party, which had previously been attacked as "soft on crime," as an advocate for "get-tough" policing strategies as well as investing in community policing. Federal funding for additional police and community policing were both priorities of the [[Democratic Leadership Council]], of which Clinton was a member.<ref>{{Cite book|last=From|first=Al|title=The New Democrats and the Return to Power|date=December 3, 2013|publisher=St. Martin's Publishing Group|isbn=978-1-137-40144-1|pages=198}}</ref> In an announcement that the ''New York Times'' described as "a page from the Republican playbook," Clinton said on July 23, 1992:<blockquote>We cannot take our country back until we take our neighborhoods back. Four years ago this crime issue was used to divide America. I want to use it to unite America. I want to be tough on crime and good for civil rights. You can't have civil justice without order and safety.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Ifill|first=Gwen|date=1992-07-24|title=THE 1992 CAMPAIGN: The Democrats; Clinton, in Houston Speech, Assails Bush on Crime Issue|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/07/24/us/1992-campaign-democrats-clinton-houston-speech-assails-bush-crime-issue.html|access-date=2020-06-09|issn=0362-4331}}</ref></blockquote>Clinton's platform, ''Putting People First'', proposed to:<blockquote>Fight crime by putting 100,000 new police officers
on the streets. We will create a National Police Corps and offer unemployed veterans and active military personnel a chance to become law enforcement officers at home. We will also expand community policing, fund more drug treatment, and establish community boot camps to discipline first-time non-violent offenders.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Clinton|first=Bill|date=June 21, 1992|title=PUTTING PEOPLE FIRST: A NATIONAL ECONOMIC STRATEGY FOR AMERICA|url=https://www.ibiblio.org/pub/academic/political-science/speeches/clinton.dir/c20.txt}}</ref></blockquote>The 135,000-member National Association of Police Officers endorsed Clinton for president in August 1992.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Ifill|first=Gwen|date=August 21, 1992|title=THE 1992 CAMPAIGN: THE DEMOCRATS; Clinton Needles Bush, Trying to Quiet His Thunder|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/08/21/news/the-1992-campaign-the-democrats-clinton-needles-bush-trying-to-quiet-his-thunder.html|access-date=June 9, 2020|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

Senator [[Joe Biden]] drafted the Senate version of the legislation in cooperation with National Association of Police Officers president Tom Scotto. According to the Washington Post, Biden later described their involvement: “You guys sat at that conference table of mine for a six-month period, and you wrote the bill.”<ref name=":2">{{Cite news|last=Kranish|first=Michael|date=June 8, 2020|title=Joe Biden let police groups write his crime bill. Now, his agenda has changed.|work=Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/joe-biden-let-police-groups-write-his-crime-bill-now-his-agenda-has-changed/2020/06/08/82ab969e-a434-11ea-8681-7d471bf20207_story.html|access-date=June 9, 2020}}</ref>

==Provisions==
===Federal Assault Weapons Ban===
{{main|Federal Assault Weapons Ban}}
Title XI-Firearms, Subtitle A-Assault Weapons, formally known as the Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act but commonly known as the [[Federal Assault Weapons Ban]] or the Semi-Automatic Firearms Ban, barred the manufacture of 19 specific [[semi-automatic firearm]]s, classified as "[[assault weapons]]", as well as any [[semi-automatic rifle]], [[pistol]], or [[shotgun]] capable of accepting a [[magazine (firearms)|detachable magazine]] that has two or more features considered characteristic of such weapons. The list of such features included [[telescoping stock|telescoping]] or folding stocks, [[pistol grip]]s, [[flash suppressor]]s, [[grenade launcher]]s, and [[bayonet lug]]s.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Spitzer|first1=Robert J.|editor1-last=Carter|editor1-first=Gregg Lee|title=Guns in American Society: An Encyclopedia of History, Politics, Culture, and the Law|date=2012|publisher=ABC-CLIO|location=Santa Barbara, Calif.|isbn=978-0313386701|page=53|edition=2nd|chapter=Assault Weapons}}</ref>

This law also banned possession of newly manufactured [[Magazine (firearms)|magazines]] holding more than ten [[cartridge (firearms)|rounds]] of [[ammunition]].

The ban took effect September 13, 1994 and expired on September 13, 2004, by a [[sunset provision]]. Since the expiration date, there is no federal ban on the subject firearms or magazines capable of holding more than ten rounds of ammunition.

===Federal Death Penalty Act===
Title VI, the Federal Death Penalty Act, created 60 new death penalty offenses under 41 federal capital statutes,<ref>{{cite web|title=The Federal Death Penalty Act of 1994|url=https://www.justice.gov/usao/eousa/foia_reading_room/usam/title9/crm00069.htm|work=Office of the United States Attorneys|publisher=Department of Justice|access-date=May 17, 2013}}</ref> for crimes related to acts of [[terrorism]], non-homicidal narcotics offenses, [[murder]] of a federal law enforcement officer, [[civil rights]]-related murders, [[drive-by shooting]]s resulting in death, the use of [[weapons of mass destruction]] resulting in death, and [[carjacking]]s resulting in death.

The 1995 [[Oklahoma City bombing]] occurred a few months after this law came into effect, and the [[Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996]] was passed in response, which further increased the federal death penalty. In 2001, [[Timothy McVeigh]] was executed for the murder of eight federal law enforcement agents under that title.

The Federal Death Penalty Act was declared unconstitutional in the case of ''U.S. v Quinones,'' ruling that the Act presented an "undue risk of executing innocent people".<ref>{{Cite web|title=Wrongful Conviction: International Perspectives on Miscarriages of Justice on JSTOR|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt14btc21?turn_away=true&Search=yes&resultItemClick=true&searchText=wrongful+execution&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3Dwrongful+execution&acc=on&wc=on&fc=off&group=none&refreqid=search%253A38fd786a77f665d10a812a00b0e01103&ab_segments=0%2Fbasic_search_gsv2%2Fcontrol&refreqid=fastly-default%3Af8aab797ef9e80f98344bf91bf993626&seq=1|access-date=2021-08-06|website=www.jstor.org|language=en}}</ref>

=== Elimination of higher education for inmates{{anchor|Elimination_of_inmate_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 amendment is as follows:

{{quote|(a) IN GENERAL- Section 401(b)(8) of the [[Higher Education Act of 1965]] (20 U.S.C. 1070a(b)(8)) is amended to read as follows:

(8) No basic grant shall be awarded under this subpart to any individual who is incarcerated in any Federal or State penal institution.<ref>{{cite web|title=H. R. 1168|url=https://bulk.resource.org/gpo.gov/bills/103/h1168ih.txt|publisher=Bulk.Resource.Org}}</ref>}}

The VCCLEA effectively eliminated the ability of lower-income prison inmates to receive college educations during their term of imprisonment, thus ensuring the education level of most inmates remains unimproved over the period of their incarceration.<ref>{{cite web|title=Education as Crime Prevention: The Case for Reinstating Pell Grant Eligibility for the Incarcerated|url=http://www.bard.edu/bpi/pdfs/crime_report.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071127065134/http://www.bard.edu/bpi/pdfs/crime_report.pdf|archive-date=November 27, 2007|publisher=[[Bard Prison Initiative]]}}</ref>

There is growing advocacy for reinstating Pell Grant funding for all prisoners who would qualify despite their incarceration status.<ref>{{cite document|title=Uncertainty Ahead: Pell Grant Funding for Prisoners|last=SpearIt|date=August 7, 2017|ssrn = 3014983}}</ref> Perhaps the most prominent statement has come from [[Donna Edwards]] along with several other members of the House of Representatives, who introduced the Restoring Education and Learning Act (REAL Act) in the spring of 2013. At the executive level, the Obama administration backed a program under development at the Department of Education to allow for a limited lifting of the ban for some prisoners, called the Second Chance Pell Pilot.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ed.gov/content/second-chance-education|title=A Second Chance for an Education|date=June 24, 2016|publisher=U.S. Department of Education|access-date=June 30, 2016}}</ref> SpearIt has argued, "First, there are genuine penal and public benefits that derive from educating prisoners. Second, and perhaps more critically, revoking Pell funding fails to advance any of the stated purposes of punishment. In the decades since the VCCLEA's enactment, there is little indication that removing prisoners from Pell eligibility has produced tangible benefits; on the contrary, among other unfavorable outcomes, disqualifying prisoners may reduce public safety and exact severe social and financial costs."<ref>{{cite journal |author1=SpearIt |title=Keeping it REAL: Why Congress Must Act to Restore Pell Grant Funding For Prisoners |journal=University of Massachusetts Law Review |date=February 18, 2016 |volume=11 |issue=1 |url=https://scholarship.law.umassd.edu/umlr/vol11/iss1/3/ |ssrn=2711979 }}</ref>

===Violence Against Women Act===
{{main|Violence Against Women Act}}
Title IV, the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), allocated $1.6 billion to help prevent and investigate [[violence against women]]. VAWA was renewed in 2000, 2005, and 2013. This includes:
*The Safe Streets for Women Act, which increased federal penalties for repeat sex offenders and requires mandatory [[restitution]] for the medical and legal costs of sex crimes.
*The Safe Homes for Women Act increased [[federal grant]]s for [[battered women's shelter]]s, created a [[National Domestic Violence Hotline]], and required for [[restraining order]]s of one state to be enforced by the other states. It also added a [[rape shield law]] to the [[Federal Rules of Evidence]].

Part of VAWA was ruled unconstitutional by the [[Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]] in ''[[United States v. Morrison]]'' (2000).

{{See also|Domestic violence in the United States}}

===Driver's Privacy Protection Act===
Title XXX, the [[Driver's Privacy Protection Act]], governs the privacy and disclosure of personal information gathered by the [[U.S. state|states]]' [[Department of Motor Vehicles|Departments of Motor Vehicles]]. The law was passed in 1994; it was introduced by [[Jim Moran]] in 1992 after an increase in opponents of abortion rights using public driving license databases to track down and harass abortion providers and patients, most notably by both besieging [[Susan Wicklund]]'s home for a month and following her daughter to school.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Information Age: Debate Mounts Over Disclosure Of Driver Data |work=Wall Street Journal |date=August 25, 1992 |first=Michael W. |last=Miller}}</ref>

===Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Registration Act===
Under Title XVII,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/42/14071|title=42 U.S. Code § 14071 to 14073 - Repealed. Pub. L. 109–248, title I, § 129(a), July 27, 2006, 120 Stat. 600|website=LII / Legal Information Institute}}</ref> known as the [[Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Registration Act]], guidelines were established for states to track sex offenders.<ref name=jacobw /> States had also been required to track sex offenders by confirming their place of residence annually for ten years after their release into the community or quarterly for the rest of their lives if the sex offender was convicted of a violent sex crime.<ref name=jacobw>{{cite web|url=https://smart.gov/legislation.htm|title=Legislative History - SMART Office|website=SMART website - Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering, and Tracking (SMART)}}</ref> The Wetterling Act was later amended in 1996 with [[Megan's Law]], which permanently required states to give public disclosure of sex offenders.<ref name=jacobw /> In 2006, the Wetterling Act's state registers was replaced with a federal register through the [[Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act]].<ref>http://www.smart.gov/pdfs/practitioner_guide_awa.pdf</ref>

===Community Oriented Policing Services===
Since 1994, the [[Community Oriented Policing Services|COPS]] Office has provided $30 billion in assistance to state and local [[law enforcement agency|law enforcement agencies]] to help hire community policing officers. The COPS Office also funds the research and development of guides, tools and training, and provides technical assistance to police departments implementing community policing principles.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cops.usdoj.gov/Default.asp?Item=44 |title=COPS History |publisher=Community Oriented Policing Services}}</ref> The law authorized the COPS Office to hire 100,000 more police officers to patrol the nation's streets.<ref name="mmpppav">https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/wp/2014/09/26/bill-clintons-claim-that-100000-cops-sent-the-crime-rate-way-down/</ref>

===Violent Offender Incarceration and Truth-in-Sentencing Incentive Grants Program===
Title II of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 provided incentive grants to build and expand correctional facilities to qualifying states that enforced [[mandatory sentencing]] of 85% of a person's sentence conviction.<ref name="bjsspecialreport">{{cite web |author1=103rd Congress (1993-1994) |title=H.R.3355 - Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 |url=https://www.congress.gov/bill/103rd-congress/house-bill/3355/text |website=congress.gov |publisher=congress.gov |access-date=February 15, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author1=Bureau of Justice Statistics |title=Bureau of Justice Statistics Special Report: Truth in Sentencing in State Prisons |url=https://bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/tssp.pdf |website=Bureau of Justice Statistics |publisher=Bureau of Justice Statistics |access-date=February 15, 2020 |page=3}}</ref> "One purpose of theVOI/TIS incentive grants," the Bureau reported, "is to enable States to manage prison capacity by providing funds to increase prison beds for violent offenders."<ref name=":0">{{Cite report|url=https://bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/tssp.pdf|title=Truth in Sentencing in State Prisons|last=Bureau of Justice Statistics|date=January 1999|id=NCJ 170032|access-date=June 9, 2020}}</ref>

===Other provisions===
The Act authorized the initiation of "[[Boot camp (correctional)|boot camps]]" for [[Juvenile delinquency|delinquent minors]] and allocated a substantial amount of money to build new prisons.

Fifty new [[Federal crime|federal offenses]] were added, including provisions making membership in gangs a crime. Some argued{{Citation needed|date=January 2014}} that these provisions violated the guarantee of [[freedom of association]] in the [[United States Bill of Rights|Bill of Rights]]. The Act did incorporate elements of H.R. 50 "Federal Bureau of Investigation First Amendment Protection Act of 1993" (into §2339A (c)) to prohibit investigations based purely on protected First Amendment activity, but this was effectively removed in the [[Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996]].<ref name="TerrorismAndTheConstitution">{{cite book|last1=Dempsey|first1=James|last2=Cole|first2=David|title=Terrorism and the Constitution: Sacrificing Civil Liberties In The Name Of National Security|date=2006|publisher=New Press|location=New York|page=63|edition=Scribd Online|url=https://www.scribd.com/book/251562727/Terrorism-and-the-Constitution-Sacrificing-Civil-Liberties-In-The-Name-Of-National-Security|access-date=September 9, 2015}}</ref>

The Act also generally prohibits individuals who have been convicted of a felony involving breach of trust from working in the business of insurance, unless they have received written consent from state regulators.

The Act also made [[drug testing]] mandatory for those serving on [[federal supervised release]].

The Act prohibits "any person acting on behalf of a governmental authority, to engage in a pattern or practice ... that deprives persons of rights, privileges, or immunities secured or protected by the Constitution or laws of the United States." (Title XXI, Subtitle D.) Subtitle D further requires the [[United States Department of Justice]] to issue an annual report on "the use of excessive force by law enforcement officers." Such reports have not been issued, however.<ref name="serpico">{{cite journal |url=http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/10/the-police-are-still-out-of-control-112160_Page2.html |title=The Police Are Still Out of Control |last=Serpico |first=Frank |author-link=Frank Serpico |journal=[[Politico|Politico Magazine]] |date=October 23, 2014 |page=2 |access-date=June 2, 2015}}</ref>

The Act included a [[three-strikes law|three-strikes]] provision addressing repeat offenders.<ref name="The New Yorker">{{cite news|last1=Vara|first1=Vauhini|title=Will California Again Lead the Way on Prison Reform?|url=http://www.newyorker.com/business/currency/will-california-lead-way-prison-reform|access-date=November 10, 2014|work=The New Yorker|date=November 7, 2014}}</ref>

The Act expanded the scope of required FBI data to include hate crimes based on [[Disability hate crime|disability]], and the FBI began collecting data on disability bias crimes on January 1, 1997.<ref name = "UCR96">{{cite web | url = https://www.fbi.gov/ucr/hate96.pdf | access-date = December 10, 2009 | title = Hate crime statistics 1996 | work = [[CJIS]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070709230626/http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/hate96.pdf |archive-date=July 9, 2007}}</ref>

==Legacy and impacts==
The 1994 Crime Bill marked a shift in the politics of crime and policing in the United States. Sociologist and criminologist William R. Kelly states that, "While the longer-term impact of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 was questionable, the political impact was clear — crime control or 'tough on crime' became a bipartisan issue."<ref>{{Cite book|last=Kelly|first=William R.|title=Criminal Justice at the Crossroads: Transforming Crime and Punishment|date=2015|publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn=978-0-231-53922-7|pages=29}}</ref>
[[File:US_Crime_rates_per_capita_1970-2001,_GAO_Chart.png|thumb|Total, Violent, and Property Crime Rates per 100,000 Persons, 1970–2001]]
Bill Clinton has claimed credit for the reduction in crime rates in the 1990s, stating that, "Because of that bill we had a 25-year low in crime, a 33-year low in the murder rate, and because of that and the background-check law, we had a 46-year low in deaths of people by gun violence.”<ref>{{Cite web|last1=Terruso|first1=Julia|last2=Lubrano|first2=Alfred|date=April 7, 2016|title=Bill Clinton stumps for Hillary in Philly - and parries with protesters|url=https://www.inquirer.com/philly/news/politics/20160408_webhead_goes_here.html|access-date=June 9, 2020|website=Philadelphia Inquirer|language=en-US}}</ref> Crime rates underwent a long period of reduction in beginning in 1991 and declined by 26% during this eight-year period.<ref name="mmpppav" /><ref name=":1">{{cite book |last1=Ekstrand |first1=Laurie E. |last2=Kingsbury |first2=Nancy R. |title=Community Policing Grants: Cops Grants Were a Modest Contributor to Declines in Crime in The 1990s |date=March 2006 |publisher=DIANE Publishing |isbn=978-1-4223-0454-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4I2O9A0RANoC&pg=PA14 |page=14 }}</ref> The primary reasons for this reduction remain a topic of debate.<ref name="mmpppav" /> A study by the General Accounting Office found that grant funding from the Community Oriented Policing Services program supported the hiring of an estimated 17,000 additional officers in 2000, its peak year of impact, and increased additional employment by 89,000 officer-years from 1994 to 2001. This was an increase of 3% in the number of sworn officers in the United States.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ekstrand |first1=Laurie E. |last2=Kingsbury |first2=Nancy R. |title=Community Policing Grants: Cops Grants Were a Modest Contributor to Declines in Crime in The 1990s |date=March 2006 |publisher=DIANE Publishing |isbn=978-1-4223-0454-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4I2O9A0RANoC&pg=PA89 |page=89 }}</ref> The GAO concluded that the COPS Office potentially had a modest impact in reducing crime, contributing to an approximate 5% reduction in overall crime rates from 1993 to 2001.<ref name=":1" /> A published study by criminologists John Worrell and Tomislav Kovandzic found that "COPS spending had little to no effect on crime."<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Worrall |first1=John L. |last2=Kovandzic |first2=Tomislav V. |title=COPS grants and crime revisited |journal=Criminology |date=February 2007 |volume=45 |issue=1 |pages=159–190 |doi=10.1111/j.1745-9125.2007.00075.x }}</ref> [[File:US incarceration timeline-clean.svg|thumb|250px|Total U.S. incarceration by year]]The Crime Bill has also become emblematic of a shift towards mass incarceration in the United States, although its contribution to the long-term trend of expanding prisons is debated. The Justice Policy Institute stated in 2008 that "the Clinton Administration's 'tough on crime' policies resulted in the largest increases in federal and state inmate populations of any president in American history".<ref>{{cite press release |publisher=Justice Policy Institute |title=Clinton Crime Agenda Ignores Proven Methods for Reducing Crime |date=April 14, 2008 |url=http://november.org/stayinfo/breaking08/ClintonCrime.html |access-date=October 17, 2020 }}</ref> Jeremy Travis, former director of the [[National Institute of Justice]], described the truth-in-sentencing provisions of the law as a catalyst: "Here's the federal government coming in and saying we'll give you money if you punish people more severely, and 28 states and the District of Columbia followed the money and enacted stricter sentencing laws for violent offenses."<ref>{{Cite web|title=20 Years Later, Parts Of Major Crime Bill Viewed As Terrible Mistake|url=https://www.npr.org/2014/09/12/347736999/20-years-later-major-crime-bill-viewed-as-terrible-mistake|access-date=June 9, 2020|website=NPR.org|language=en}}</ref> The Act may have had a minor effect on mass incarceration and prison expansion.<ref>{{cite news |title=The controversial 1994 crime law that Joe Biden helped write, explained |url=https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/6/20/18677998/joe-biden-1994-crime-bill-law-mass-incarceration |work=Vox |date=June 20, 2019}}</ref> In 1998, twenty-seven states and the District of Columbia qualified for that Federal grant program.<ref name="bjsspecialreport" /> Thirteen more states adopted truth-in-sentencing law applying to some crimes or with a lower percentage threshold.<ref name=":0" /> By 1997, sixty-nine percent of sentenced violent offenders were in states meeting the 85% "truth-in-sentencing" threshold and over ninety percent faced at least a 50% threshold.<ref name=":0" /> The Bureau of Justice Statistics projected in 1999 that, "As a result of truth-in-sentencing practices, the State prison population is expected to increase through the incarceration of more offenders for longer periods of time," and found that the State prison population had "increased by 57%" to "a high of 1,075,052 inmates" while the number of people sentenced to prison each year was only up by 17%.<ref name=":0" /> However, a GAO report found that federal incentives were "not a factor" in enacting truth in sentencing provisions in 12 of the 27 states that qualified, and "a key factor" in just four.<ref>{{Cite conference|last=US General Accounting Office|date=1998|title=Truth in Sentencing: Availability of Federal Grants Influenced Laws in Some States|location=Washington, DC|publisher=General Accounting Office}}</ref>

The legal system relied on [[plea bargains]] to minimize the increased case load.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Rohrlich|first1=Justin|title=Why Are There Up to 120,000 Innocent People in US Prisons?|url=https://news.vice.com/article/why-are-there-up-to-120000-innocent-people-in-us-prisons|access-date=November 10, 2014|work=VICE news|date=November 10, 2014}}</ref> [[Jerry Brown]] and [[Bill Clinton]] later expressed regret over the portions of the measure that led to increased prison population like the three strikes provision.<ref name="The New Yorker" /><ref>{{cite news|last1=Hunt|first1=Kasie|title=Bill Clinton: Prison sentences to take center stage in 2016|url=http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/bill-clinton-prison-sentences-take-center-stage-2016|access-date=June 2, 2015 |work=MSNBC |date=October 8, 2014}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Incarceration in the United States]]
*[[United States incarceration rate]]
*[[Comparison of United States incarceration rate with other countries]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{wikiquote}}
*[http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c103:H.R.3355.ENR: Full text of the Act]

[[Category:103rd United States Congress]]
[[Category:United States federal firearms legislation]]
[[Category:United States federal criminal legislation]]
[[Category:Gun politics in the United States]]

Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act - Revision history

Priyankasingh: small fix

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