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Tom Carper on Crime

Democratic Sr Senator (DE)

 


Supports mandatory Three Strikes sentencing laws

Governor Thomas R. Carper today signed House Bill 17, which allows the victims of crimes committed by juveniles to receive, upon request, information about the defendant's compliance or non-compliance with provisions of his or her criminal sentence.

Prior "victim's rights" legislation assured this exchange of information only in cases where the defendant was an adult.

Source: Press Release, "victim's bill of rights", June 27, 2000 , Sep 19, 2000

Agressively clean up criminal "hot spots"

Carper today unveiled a new crime report-detailing the significant role his "Operation Safe Streets" teams have had in reducing violent crimes. "In various areas throughout our state, certain neighborhoods have become ‘hot spots' for violent crime and drug activity," Carper said. "Through a cooperative effort among police and state probation officers, we are continuing an aggressive strategy to clean up these areas and help residents take back their streets."
Source: Press Release, "Operation Safe Streets" , Jun 27, 2000

Keep violent offendors behind bars

Governor Carper will include in his FY 2001 capital and operating budgets additional funding to finish the state's largest prison expansion project, including additional security positions to staff these new facilities. The 600 new maximum-security cells will be used to house Delaware's most violent criminals. The conversion of the Morris Correctional Institution will be complete. The second of three violation of probation centers will be finished and the planning for the third will begin this year.
Source: 2000 Legislative Agenda , Jan 1, 2000

More funding and stricter sentencing for hate crimes.

Carper co-sponsored the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act:

Title: To provide Federal assistance to States and local jurisdictions to prosecute hate crimes.

Summary: Provide technical, forensic, prosecutorial, or other assistance in the criminal investigation or prosecution of any violent crime that is motivated by prejudice based on the race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, or disability of the victim or is a violation of hate crime laws.

  1. Award grants to assist State and local law enforcement officials with extraordinary expenses for interstate hate crimes.

  2. Award grants to State and local programs designed to combat hate crimes committed by juveniles.

  3. Prohibit specified offenses involving actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, or disability.

  4. Increase criminal sentencing for adult recruitment of juveniles to commit hate crimes.

  5. Collect and publish data about crimes that manifest evidence of prejudice based on gender.
Source: House Resolution Sponsorship 01-HR1343 on Apr 3, 2001

Facilitate recovering crime victim restitution fees.

Carper co-sponsored Crime Victim Restitution and Court Fee Intercept Act

Congressional Summary:

Source: HR1416/S755 11-S0755 on Apr 7, 2011

First step: reduce recidivism & mass incarceration.

Carper voted YEA First Step Act

Congressional Summary:

Opposing press release from Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-CA-1):: The reform sentencing laws in this bill may compromise the safety of our communities. Criminals convicted of violent crimes would have the opportunity to achieve `low risk` status and become eligible for early release. California already has similar laws in place--Propositions 47 and 57--which have hamstrung law enforcement and caused a significant uptick in crime.

Supporting press release from Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY-10):: S. 756 establishes a new system to reduce the risk that [federal prisoners] will commit crimes once they are released. Critically, S. 756 would not only implement these reforms to our prison system, but it also takes a crucial first step toward addressing grave concerns about our sentencing laws, which have for years fed a national crisis of mass incarceration. The bill is a `first step` that demonstrates that we can work together to make the system fairer in ways that will also reduce crime and victimization.

Legislative outcome: Concurrence Passed Senate, 87-12-1, on Dec. 18, 2018; Concurrence Passed House 358-36-28, Dec. 20, 2018; President Trump signed, Dec. 21, 2018

Source: Congressional vote 18-S756 on Dec 20, 2018

Rated 73% by the NAPO, indicating a moderate stance on police issues.

Carper scores 73% by the NAPO on crime & police issues

Ratings by the National Association of Police Organizations indicate support or opposition to issues of importance to police and crime. The organization`s self-description: `The National Association of Police Organizations (NAPO) is a coalition of police units and associations from across the United States. NAPO was organized for the purpose of advancing the interests of America`s law enforcement officers through legislative advocacy, political action, and education.

`Increasingly, the rights and interests of law enforcement officers have been the subject of legislative, executive, and judicial action in the nation’s capital. NAPO works to influence the course of national affairs where law enforcement interests are concerned. The following list includes examples of NAPO’s accomplishments:

VoteMatch scoring for the NAPO ratings is as follows:

Source: NAPO ratings on Congress and politicians 2014_NAPO on Dec 31, 2014

Tougher juvenile crime penalties; but let states set them.

Carper adopted a letter to Senate leaders from 4 Governors:

The bills [Congress is working on] support many effective juvenile justice strategies, including incarceration for anyone who knowingly provides a firearm to a minor for illegal use, and additional penalties for those who illegally sell or transfer firearms or engage in drug trafficking at or near a school site, park, or other area where children and youth congregate. While many of your goals are laudable and Governors support them, we do not approve of the various mandates, restrictions, and fund set-asides in H.R. 1501 and 254. States are in the best position to determine penalties for juvenile crime. States need more, not less flexibility to deal with delinquent behavior. Flexibility is essential to allow states to continue to find out what works, developing “best practices” on proven programs, and learning from each other. Federal mandates and one-size-fits-all prescriptions short-circuit experimentation and innovation.

The nation’s Governors are deeply concerned about attempts to expand federal criminal law into traditional state criminal justice system functions. This will contribute little to reducing crime. Moreover, it undermines state and local anti-crime efforts. Governors also believe that federal concurrent jurisdiction in criminal justice efforts will be used by the federal government to impose additional burdensome mandates on state and local crime control and law enforcement officials, especially with regard to federal authority over juvenile offenders. One example is the mandate that states establish and maintain federally-prescribed “Juvenile Criminal History Record” data banks. The pending bills are not clear on what information must be provided to and will remain in the national data bases, who will have access to the data, how long the data will be maintained and made available, and how the data will be used. We also affirm states’ rights under our federal system to control access to their own data.

Source: National Governor's Association letter to Congress 99-NGA24 on Aug 5, 1999

Other candidates on Crime: Tom Carper on other issues:
DE Gubernatorial:
Bethany Hall-Long
John Carney
Matt Meyer
Mike Ramone
DE Senatorial:
Chris Coons
Eric Hansen
James DeMartino
Jessica Scarane
Lauren Witzke
Lisa Blunt Rochester
Mike Katz

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