{"id":2442,"date":"2020-11-23T22:07:03","date_gmt":"2020-11-24T06:07:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/?p=2442"},"modified":"2020-11-23T22:07:03","modified_gmt":"2020-11-24T06:07:03","slug":"will-biden-throw-in-with-defense-bar-extremists-or-with-america","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/?p=2442","title":{"rendered":"Will Biden Throw in with Defense Bar Extremists or with America?"},"content":{"rendered":"

There is understandably a good deal of speculation about whether Joe Biden intends to govern from the center-left or the far left.\u00a0 Biden won the nomination largely as a centrist-sounding counterpoint to the left wing in his Party, represented by Sen. Elizabeth Warren and particularly by Sen. Bernie Sanders.\u00a0 But his platform on criminal justice is anything but centrist, calling, for example, for elimination of the death penalty (a punishment a clear majority of Americans support<\/a>) and an end to\u00a0 — rather than merely a reduction in\u00a0 —\u00a0 mandatory minimum sentences, freeing judges to impose little to no punishment regardless of the savagery of the crime.<\/p>\n

Which way will Mr. Biden go?<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Doug Berman provides a clue in competing entries on his blog.\u00a0 In the more recent one<\/a>, Prof. Berman reminds us that Biden and Sanders combined to form a “Criminal Justice Unity Task Force” that, Doug says, “ought to get sentencing [reduction] fans especially excited.”\u00a0 Doug continues (emphasis added):<\/p>\n

[L]et me start…by spotlighting arguably the most exciting and challenging of all the CJUTF recommendations:<\/p>\n

Sentence Length and Early Release<\/strong>: Task the U.S. Sentencing Commission with conducting a comprehensive review of existing sentencing guidelines and statutory sentencing ranges, with the goal of generating legislative recommendations, promulgating new guidelines, and issuing formal guidance to reduce unreasonably long sentences<\/em> and promote rehabilitation.\u00a0 The Commission should make recommendations regarding early release options, including expanding good time credits, reinstating federal parole, and creating a \u201csecond look\u201d mechanism permitting federal judges to reevaluate sentences after a certain amount of time served.<\/em>\u00a0 Any such options should use a systematic, evidence-based approach that reduces risks to public safety, prevents racially disparate implementation, reduces the total number of people under federal custody and supervision, and limits the duration and conditions of supervision.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In other words, the Biden\/Sanders plan is to comprehensively reduce sentences by hook or by crook\u00a0 —\u00a0 or, more accurately, by hook and<\/strong> by crook.<\/p>\n

Question:\u00a0 Is reducing sentences what America wants?<\/p>\n

Answer:\u00a0 The estimable Prof. Berman helpfully told us in another entry<\/a> just a week ago.\u00a0 As I noted in discussing that entry:<\/p>\n

[The Gallup poll Doug highlights shows] that slightly more than three-quarters of Americans think the system as it stands is not tough enough (the plurality) or about right. About one-fifth of Americans think it\u2019s too tough. Or to put it another way, three and a-half times as many Americans think the system isn\u2019t tough enough or is about right where it is as think it should become more lenient.<\/p>\n

When the \u201cstay-where-we-are-or-get-tougher\u201d side outnumbers the \u201cget-more-lenient\u201d side three and a-half to one, is that a mandate to cut back on policing and water down sentencing?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I suspect we shall see shortly whether Mr. Biden understands what a three and a-half to one majority means\u00a0 —\u00a0 and with it, whether he aims to accommodate America’s center or its far left.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There is understandably a good deal of speculation about whether Joe Biden intends to govern from the center-left or the far left.\u00a0 Biden won the nomination largely as a centrist-sounding counterpoint to the left wing in his Party, represented by Sen. Elizabeth Warren and particularly by Sen. Bernie Sanders.\u00a0 But his platform on criminal justice is anything but centrist, calling, for example, for elimination of the death penalty (a punishment a clear majority of Americans support) and an end to\u00a0 — rather than merely a reduction in\u00a0 —\u00a0 mandatory minimum sentences, freeing judges to impose little to no punishment regardless of the savagery of the crime. Which way will Mr. Biden go?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41,49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2442","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","category-sentencing"],"yoast_head":"\nWill Biden Throw in with Defense Bar Extremists or with America? - Crime & Consequences<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/?p=2442\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Will Biden Throw in with Defense Bar Extremists or with America? - Crime & Consequences\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"There is understandably a good deal of speculation about whether Joe Biden intends to govern from the center-left or the far left.\u00a0 Biden won the nomination largely as a centrist-sounding counterpoint to the left wing in his Party, represented by Sen. 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