Hillary Clinton Admits She Regrets Role in 1994 Mass Incarceration Crime Bill
Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton insists her record on mass incarceration doesn't reflect her current views on the issue.
During her most recent debate against democratic challenger Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, the former secretary of state admitted to a panel of CNN analysts she's now convinced her actions were a mistake. Throughout her campaign, the former first lady has been pounded by Black Lives Matter protesters over her support for a 1994 crime bill many argue led to mass incarcerations by haphazardly creating harsher sentences.
At one floor debate over the bill leading up to its inception, Clinton invoked the racially-insensitive myth of "superpredators," referring to young blacks described at the time as irrevocably violent and immoral.
Clinton Admits Regrets
On Sunday night, Clinton followed the lead of husband Bill Clinton. The former president also once supported the legislation, but in 2015 he publicly admitted he now feels doing so only made matters worse.
"I signed a bill that made the problem worse," the former president recently shared at a NAACP meeting in Philadelphia. "And I want to admit it."
While pointing out she still feels certain elements of the bill have worked, such as the Violence Against Women provisions, Hillary Clinton added, "But other aspects of it were a mistake and I agree. That's why I am focused and have a very comprehensive approach towards fixing the criminal justice system, going after systemic racism that stalks the justice system, ending private prisons and ending the incarceration of low level offenders."
Bill Also Introduced 'Three Strikes' Rule
The 1994 bill is also notorious for creating the "three strikes" rule that mandated life in prison for anyone convicted three times for violent felonies, including drug crimes. Congress is now weighing various legislative proposals that would scale back at least portions of the law.
Through it all, Clinton has remained relatively popular among black voters. The mothers of Sandra Bland, Eric Garner and Dontre Hamilton -- victims of police violence -- have all openly campaigned for her.
During her recent South Carolina primary win, black voters went for Clinton by an overwhelming margin of 86 to 14 percent, setting her on course for a wildly successful Super Tuesday showing a week later. On March 1, Clinton won primaries in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and Massachusetts.
"What a Super Tuesday," she raved in the aftermath.
Clinton quickly turned her attention to Republican front-runner Donald Trump, asserting that America is already great, rejecting his campaign mantra to "Make America Great Again." She later pledged to make the country "whole again" and has since vowed to tackle the issue of immigration within the first 100 days of her administration if she is elected.
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