Grading the Biden Presidency: Justice / Legal / Crime

GRADING THE BIDEN PRESIDENCY:
JUSTICE / LEGAL / CRIME

Grading the chief executive’s record on crime is largely superfluous. That’s because most crime-fighting and the mechanics of criminal justice take place at the local level. Personnel, prioritization of enforcement, allocation of resources, courts, jails, and even many prisons are strictly matters for state and local governments. The executive branch impacts crime across the country relatively little, by comparison. In fact, the federal judiciary is far more impactful on local crime than any policies originating within the White House.

That said, as with many issues in this series, the Biden Administration merits a positive-to-mixed grade on matters of criminal justice. That grade is influenced significantly by policies and actions within the Department of Justice (which includes the FBI), Homeland Security, appointments to federal judgeships (including one Supreme Court pick), decriminalization of certain classes of drugs, and increased funding for law enforcement.

Biden’s many critics employed grotesque misperceptions of crime nationally, often to their political advantage. Sadly, the lies worked. Virtually all statistics reveal significant *decreases* in violent crime in every region of the country over the past four years. Republicans may quibble with the data, but the evidence of dramatic decreases in violent crime — including homicide, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault — are now at 50-year lows (according to 2024 data). How much credit should be given to the Biden Administration is certainly debatable. However, those crime figures are not debatable. Yet, in a bizarre display of shameful disinformation, which proved effective, much of America badly misperceived Biden’s record on crime, which statistically-speaking is outstanding.

Speaking of Biden’s critics and political lies, his Administration did not “defund the police.” To the contrary: President Biden’s 2021 Stimulus Bill included an unprecedented record $350 billion for state and local governments, which he strongly encouraged them to spend on local law enforcement. DOJ, FBI, and courts also received record appropriations EVERY year. So, to the extent that government funding produces results on the streets, some of the decrease in crime is likely the result of Biden initiatives.

The Biden Administration’s record on drugs — both legal and illegal — is also laudable. The decriminalization of marijuana laws, including the expungement of many federal convictions (tens of thousands of prisoners serving time for low-level drug offenses were released in the past four years) was a positive step forward after many prior decades of ineffective and outdated drug policy.

Also, credit the Biden Administration for getting a gun safety and reform bill passed and signed into law in 2022. It was first major gun safety legislation passed by Congress in nearly 30 years. Of course, reforming America’s preposterous gun laws has proven difficult, if not impossible given the political opposition. Nonetheless, any progress is a net-positive, so give the Biden Administration a small checkmark here.

Unfortunately, the Biden Administration’s otherwise impressive record on matters of crime and justice were blemished by notable failures. Biden’s flip-flop and contradictions on the controversial use of private (“for profit) prisons run by corporations proved embarrassing. Recall that Biden initially ran in opposition to “for profit” prisons and signed an executive order early in his term to terminate such federal contracts. Then, he reversed that policy later and even ramped up those agreements while detaining many undocumented aliens.

Other aspects of “criminal justice reform” never materialized. What “accomplishments” were made during his term ended up costing Biden politically and severely hurt Democrats. For example, changes in Biden Administration policy following the George Floyd death did not go over well in middle America (to put it mildly). The Biden Administration was also widely criticized for not taking a stronger position against some localities which failed to pursue and prosecute theft and petty crime (such as California’s absurd lax law enforcement which led to frightening incidents of “smash and grab” crime against retailers, which received massive coverage). Biden simply didn’t seem “tough on crime,” which has always been a pillar of the presidency.

Arguably, the Biden Administration’s worst blunder on criminal justice was the appointment of Merrick Garland as Attorney General. He was the wrong choice for a tough job. Garland proved to be a feckless, woefully inadequate advocate for justice. Garland failed to pursue Trump aggressively in the immediate aftermath of the U.S. Capitol riot and insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021, delaying bringing charges for years until a new election cycle was underway. His reliance on a special counsel also backfired. This proved to be a catastrophic blunder and gross miscarriage of justice, particularly since Trump is unlikely face justice in the future. Note: To the DOJ’s credit, they did a good job catching and prosecuting most lawbreakers.

President Biden’s record number of pardons in the final stage of his final presidency also proved controversial, most notably for his son (Hunter Biden). The actual number of pardons is a bit misleading because 2,500 people convicted of nonviolent drug offenses were included (and worthy of release assuming one supports decriminalization of some drugs). Included in the pardons, Biden commuted the sentences of 37 of the 40 people on federal death row, converting their punishments to life imprisonment. Again, this was a polarizing decision.

This overview should also address the spike (and decline) in opioids abuse, the fentanyl crisis, and white collar crime–which all merit discussion.

More on that final point–which is white collar crimes. The Biden Administration (ne DOJ’s, SEC’s, etc.) negligence holding many corporations, and the super-wealthy accountable for crimes and misconduct is troubling. The millions of people harmed by corporate greed, dirty doctors, tax cheats, Wall Street insiders, and negligence deserved far better.

Grade: 6 (on a 1-10 scale)

8/11