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 | HOUSE COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARYOctober 10, 1996The Future Congress |
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NewsHour Converage of Judiciary Issues
Congress debates benefits to illegal and legal immigrants.
Issue and Debate on the Drug Policy.
Congress debates and then votes to lift the ban on assault weapons.
Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee debate the political persuasion of Clinton's federal judges.
Congress debates benefits to illegal and legal immigrants.
Browse the NewsHour's coverage of legal issues.
"Debate Night" debate between Republican and Democratic House and Senate leaders.
Outside Links
The House Committee on the Judiciary.
Although America's crime rate is declining, the rate of violent crime is still extremely high compared to that of other countries. Throughout the globe, the United States is still depicted as a violent society. Lawmakers are constantly being challenged to come up with more than just rhetoric to address the American dilemma. Consituents are demanding specific programs to intervene in the illegal drug trade, to control guns, end street gangs, and stop spousal and child abuse.
The Presidential candidates have exchanged heated critiques of each other's records and ideas. Dole believes Clinton has been the most irresponsible President in U.S. history with regard to drug abuse among teenagers, and says he would be prepared to use the National Guard to stop drugs crossing U.S. borders.
Clinton has criticized Dole for trying to block passage of his anti-crime bill, which would have put 100,000 police on the streets, and for cutting back on programs to fight drugs in the schools.
Many "law and order" issues were addressed by the 104th Congress, but the 105th Congress has a long way to go to satisfy voter concerns. A fundamental question is whether the Federal Government holds the answers, or whether state and local authorities are in a better position to change the levels of crime in society.
Our forum asks: What is the role of the government in policing the nation? What can the federal government do to make your neighborhood safer? Which party is better prepared to create a useful crime policy? Your answers will be answered by two key members of the House Committee on the Judiciary.
Bill McCollum (R-FL) chairs the Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime. His work has focused on reforming the court system and toughening sentences on criminals. He has also worked to modify and streamline the death penalty system.
John Conyers (D-MI) currently serves as the Ranking Minority member of the House Judiciary Committee. An outspoken critic of the administration over their handling of the Waco standoff, Conyers has also pushed for stricter gun control and more preventative crime measures.
Representative Conyers and McCollum's answers to your questions are below.
Questions asked in this forum:
- What were the greatest successes and failures on the Judiciary?
- Are there really 100,000 more police on the streets?
- What is your answer to rising youth drug use?
- Should the death penalty be used on rapists?
- Should punitive lawsuits be limited?
- Why have social services been cut for legal immigrants?
A question from the Online NewsHour editors:
Can you briefly describe what you considered the greatest successes of the 104th Congress vis-à-vis your committee, and what are your priorities for the 105th?
Rep. McCollum responds:
The crime-fighting accomplishments of the 104th Congress surpass that of any in the last quarter century. In tackling crime, drug abuse and criminal justice reform --- issues which rank among the public's highest concerns --- the GOP-led Congress passed legislation that represents landmark reforms in the criminal justice system.
The historic crime-fighting accomplishments of the 104th Congress include:
Effective Death Penalty Act --- Enactment into law of death penalty reform legislation means violent criminals will no longer sit on death row for years or even decades. Convicted felons, particularly capital defendants who try to beat the system by filing endless appeals, will be allowed only "one bite at the apple," and judges must act within strict time limits. This prevents the seemingly endless appeals of death row inmates and stops an abuse which has made a mockery of our criminal justice system.
Prison Litigation Reform Act --- Puts an end to state prison population caps and forced early release of prisoners. This stops abuses like the federal judge in Philadelphia who released up to 600 criminal defendants a week to keep the inmate population at a level he deemed appropriate. Within one 18-month period these criminals were re-arrested for committing 79 murders, 90 rapes, 959 robberies, 2,215 drug deals, 701 burglaries, 2,748 thefts and 1,113 assaults. The Act also stops the skyrocketing frivolous prisoner lawsuits which now take up to 25 percent of civil court dockets across the country. In fiscal 1995, prisoners filed 63,550 civil lawsuits, some as ludicrous as suing the prison for serving smooth peanut butter when chunky had been requested. The Act requires that prisoners exhaust administrative remedies before filing a lawsuit, thus saving the states millions of dollars each year.
Truth-in-Sentencing --- Provides federal grants to encourage states to keep violent criminals behind bars longer. Currently, states are incarcerating violent criminals for an average of 46 percent of their sentences. These grants go to states which are requiring violent criminals to serve at least 85 percent of their sentences.
Local Government Law Enforcement Block Grants --- This legislation provides federal dollars directly to local communities to spend as they --- not Washington --- see fit. The block grants can be used for law enforcement, prevention, or any program that would control crime and improve public safety.
Comprehensive Terrorism Prevention Act --- Strengthens federal law enforcement in attacking terrorism by providing new criminal penalties, expanding death penalty provisions for terrorist crimes, prohibiting financial support for terrorist organizations and allowing U.S. citizens harmed by terrorists to sue the nations that support the perpetrators.
Criminal Alien Deportation --- Included in the terrorism bill, these provisions will make it quicker and easier to deport criminal aliens.
Mandatory Victim Restitution --- Also part of the terrorism bill, this legislation ensures that federal judges order full restitution to victims and family members. Victims of such tragedies as the Oklahoma City bombing will have the opportunity to recoup personal and financial losses.
Sexual Crimes Against Children Prevention Act --- This legislation increases penalties for sexual crimes involving children, specifically in the area of child pornography and trafficking of material by computer transmission.
Megan's Law --- Republicans in the 104th Congress toughened laws which require offenders convicted of sexually violent acts to register their addresses with state law enforcement officials. Given the high recidivism rate of these brutal sexual predators, communities will now be notified when a convicted sex offender moves into their neighborhoods.
Sex Offender Tracking and Identification Act --- Sexual predators are not. Confined within state lines; neither should our efforts to keep track of them. This Act establishes a database using existing FBI criminal records for a nationwide tracking system of convicted sex offenders who must register with state law enforcement. This ensures offenders will be tracked as they move from state to state. If an offender fails to register, they will be subject to tougher penalties.
Interstate Stalking Punishment and Prevention Act --- Creates federal penalties for stalking across state lines. It also authorizes federal law enforcement to bring criminal charges against someone who crosses state lines in violation of a restraining order.
Comprehensive Methamphetamine Control Act --- First, major legislation designed to combat the rapidly growing scourge of methamphetamine, known as speed or crank, which has become the new drug of choice. This Act provides for increased penalties for the manufacture, sale and distribution of methamphetamine, and regulates over-the-counter products used to make methamphetamine.
Church Arson Prevention Act --- Establishes a federal crime for damage to religious property or obstructing any person's free exercise of religion where the offense involves commerce.
Drug-Induced Rape Prevention and Punishment Act --- Prohibits distribution of a controlled substance, known as rohypnol, to a person without their knowledge with the intent to commit a crime of violence.
In the 105th Congress, there will be a full agenda in the area of criminal justice legislation. Among the many challenges we will face: put forward legislation to hold juvenile criminals accountable; examine the most effective way to conduct the war on drugs, and seek to expand the opportunity for prisoners to participate in prison industries.
Rep. Conyers responds:
I was proud to see the committee pass two pieces of legislation I sponsored: the Church Arson Prevention Act and the Carjacking Correction Act.
The Church Arson Prevention Act amends section 247 of Title 19 of the U.S. Code- The bill increases penalties for religious property damage, and was a swift response to the high incidence of church arson, primarily at southern African American churches. President Clinton helped to bring a great deal of attention to this sad phenomenon and the legislation was passed on a rare, bipartisan basis. My Carjacking Correction Act was passed in response to a reprehensible decision by the First Circuit Court of Appeals that trivialized rape when it took place with carjacking crimes. That court said that rape was not a "serious bodily injury" believe it or not. My legislation makes it clear that rape is a serious bodily injury and deserves the highest possible penalties.
I am hopeful the committee will be inclined to consider independent counsel reform, serious handgun control, and the issue of police brutality and misconduct. I had pushed for the Gingrich/Dole Congress to consider these issues this Congress, but the committee had other priorities.
A question from Jerry Levine, Washington, DC:
Only 26,000 of the 100, 000 police promised are actually on the streets.
We were happy to hear that 100, 000 police would be added to local police forces, until we read the fine print - that communities would have to provide "matching funds" for the new officers. In a city like mine where we have some of the greatest need, there aren't the funds for the existing police force - how on earth are we supposed to find matching funds for new ones? What plans do you have to address this problem?
Rep. McCollum responds:
I agree that providing the matching funds is one of several problems with the Cops on the Beat program. For many communities, coming up with 25 percent of the total cost keeps them from participating. That is why the GOP Block Grant alternative which requires only 10 percent matching fluids represents a vital step by the 104th Congress to assist many more communities in fighting crime. The Republican block grant proposal provides assistance without prescribing the specific programs that localities must implement. Funding priorities are left to local government officials who best understand their communities' crime problems, rather than to Congress. Moreover, funds are distributed to the communities which need it most, based on their crime rates and not by someone in the Justice Department.
Rep. Conyers responds:
I represent the City of Detroit. The Mayor and the Police Chief have been extremely enthusiastic about Clinton's Cops-on-the-beat program. The program hasn't been completed yet, but just this week the President armounced new awards for cities and towns across the country. You say that there are only 26,000 new cops so far, but you should know that even that was a struggle. President Clinton had to veto a Ginfrich/Dole attempt to destroy the program. More officers are coming. As Clinton said in the recent debates, the federal government has an important role in assisting local communities. This program is working extremely well. Ask any mayor or sheriff, Republican or Democrat.
A question from Joanna Steinglass, Cambridge, MA:
I am a medical student and wonder if the rise in teen drug use is really a failure of policy, or is there a social shift which is not within the government's control? Also the Clinton administration seems to be getting the blame, but it appears the upswing in drug abuse among teenagers began in 1990, two years before Clinton was elected. Please respond.
Rep. McCollum responds:
I think there has been a social shift in our country on the use of drugs, but I disagree that it is outside the government's control. On the contrary, I feel strongly that government leaders need to set the proper tone to discourage drug use among the young. This administration has failed to do that. According to the University of Michigan's respected Monitoring the Future study, drug use dropped among young people through the 1980s and continued falling up to 1992. High school seniors' past-month drug use dropped 12 percent between 1991 and 1992. They used less marijuana, hallucinogens, cocaine, sedatives, stimulants and alcohol in 1992 than in 1991. However, the declines in the 1980s and early 1990s have been canceled out by steep increases during the Clinton administration, when teen drug use rose 141 percent for marijuana, 166 percent for Cocaine and 183 percent for LSD. While hard-core use by young people of heroin and cocaine is firmly in the single digits, nearly 35 percent of high school seniors now smoke marijuana at least occasionally.
Rep. Conyers responds:
Be wary of political rhetoric. The evidence indicates that teen drug use has been on the rise since the Bush Administration. Partisanship makes it hard to take real steps to reduce drug use. We all need to work together to come up with prevention efforts, education efforts, and intervention for those who have already fallen through the cracks. Hollywood doesn't deserve all the blame, but it would help if there was no glamorization of drugs in the movies and I don't mean Trainspotting, Bob Dole.
A question from Louise Campbell-Blair, Los Angeles, CA:
The death penalty has been expanded to include drug kingpins. Do you also plan to extend it to rapists and kidnappers? And what about limiting the number of appeals a death row inmate can make to overturn a conviction, so the process doesn't take 13 years for a convict to actually be executed?
Rep. McCollum responds: There is already a death penalty for cases of rape and kidnapping that result in a victim's death. However, the Supreme Court in 1976 ruled against the death penalty in rape cases which don't result in death. Enactment into law of habeas corpus reform means an end to lengthy delays in executions, and limits criminals to "one bite of the apple" on procedural appeals. Convicted felons who seek further review of their cases will now have one year to file a petition in federal court after exhausting all appeals in state court. These new restrictions on appeals would not keep a death row inmate from receiving additional review if there is newly discovered evidence clearly pointing to the inmate's innocence. However, with stricter provisions in place for appeals, criminals will no longer be on death row for years. A prime example of how this abuse has made a mockery of our justice system is the case of serial killer John Wayne Gacy, who was found guilty of murdering 27 young boys but spent 14 years on death row before being executed. In the nearly 20 years since the Supreme Court restored the death penalty, hundreds of thousands of murders have been committed in America. Yet only about 300 murderers have been executed, while roughly 3,000 currently sit on death row. The effect of this "accountability gap" is that violent criminals rarely fear the consequences of destroying the life of another human being.
Rep. Conyers responds: I oppose the death penalty, and would not support it in any circumstances. The reasons are too numerous to mention in this forum.
A question from Carla Freeman, Tuscon, AR:
Although there has been some progress on the amounts awarded as punitive damages in law suits, we have along way to go to stop outrageous settlements. What can we expect from the 105th Congress in this area?
Rep. McCollum responds:
The 104th Congress passed some very balanced and much needed legal reforms. Congress sent President Clinton several legal reform bills with bipartisan support, only to see all of them vetoed at the behest of the influential trial lawyers. I was pleased we were able to override one of the bills involving securities litigation reform, President Clinton's ill-advised vetoes have now lessened the need for these reforms. However, it is not yet possible to craft a clear-cut strategy for the 105th Congress as it relates to this issue. Much of it will depend on the White House after November. I cannot foresee the trial lawyers losing their influence with President Clinton, so legal reform bills will most likely see a veto pen if he is reelected. Naturally, this hampers our efforts and any strategy must take this into account. On the other hand, should Senator Dole occupy the White House, GOP chances of enacting legal reform are greatly enhanced. Regardless, I expect the 105th Congress to address this critical issue in some manner.
Rep. Conyers responds:
In fact, punitive damage awards are rare, yet they are important deterrents to dangerous products. Juries rarely award them, but more importantly they are always subject to judicial review. Yet the possibility of a punitive damage award is the only thing protecting consumers. A number of manufacturers want to strip Americans of their rights to hold wrongdoers accountable. In the U,S. the power to change dangerous behavior resides in individuals, not just politicians and bureaucrats. Read the fine print when it comes to plans to take away your legal rights.
A question from Beth Baylin, Chicago, IL:
Congress has moved to cut off social services to LEGAL immigrants. What's the rationale for that?
Rep. McCollum responds:
As this was not a legislative area that Rep. McCollum was involved with, he declined to answer this question.
Rep. Conyers responds:
There is no such rationale save election year demagoguery. America is not a nation of part-time citizenship. Either you are a citizen or you are not.
Additional Comments:
Rob Sherrill of Dawson, PA
Law enforcement agencies are often left to pick up the pieces of crimes committed by people who grew up in abusive family situations. There is also an erosion of respect for authority. Perfect case in point: The Baltimore Orioles fans who cheer for Roberto Alomar even though he has just committed an act that makes him one of the most despicable professional athletes on the face of the earth. People are living out their own desire to 'kill the ump' through this player's actions. The same can be interpolated to the rest of society. Too many people see police officers and other authority figures as pigs. The guys right up there doing this stuff are people like Rush Limbaugh who are listened to by millions upon millions of people and who holds many of our public servants and authority figures up for ridicule. No wonder they have a tough job. So we all need to take responsibility to make things better for society a person at a time.
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Craig Dickson of Houston, Texas
Please, keep the federal government out of the crime fight. We have found that local constables and subdivision crime fighters works a lot better then relying on politicians in Austin (Texas State Capital) and in Washington, D.C.
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