Criminal Justice

Joe Biden served as Delaware senator from 1973 to 2009 and over these nearly 40 years, he consistently voted in favor of mass incarceration. The "tough-on-crime" attitude and laws that are associated with it are highly criticized for perpetuating racism within the justice system. I could write an entire article on this topic alone but I decided to just stick with this more general approach and give you a basic rundown of the situation.

Beginning in 1984, Biden and Republican Senator Strom Thurmond created the Comprehensive Control Act and spearheaded the push to pass it. This law widely expanded drug trafficking penalties even though drug trafficking laws are notoriously known for playing a large role in the disproportionate incarceration of black people. But most importantly, the specific way in which this law expanded the penalties was by allowing for "civil asset forfeiture." This gave police the right to seize and absorb someone's property without proving guilt and thus created an added incentive for arrest on behalf of the police.

Biden also sponsored and wrote parts of both the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 and the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988. The names of these laws sound misleading, because in reality these laws skyrocketed prison sentences for drug possession (including marijuana), upped the fines and penalties for drug transportation, and created the controversial sentencing disparity between crack cocaine and powder cocaine. This disparity proved to be a major point of contention because though both drugs are chemically similar, the law made it so a person had to possess 100 times the amount of powder cocaine for the same mandatory minimum sentence for crack cocaine. So, when considering that crack cocaine is significantly more common among black Americans than any other group in the U.S., these laws proved to be major contributors to the racism of the justice system.

Starting to see the picture?

If not, I have one more law I'd like to highlight. The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, partially written by and fully sponsored by Joe Biden. The law imposed mandatory minimums and harsher sentences for a plethora of crimes and increased funding for prisons, in turn creating the rise and massive surge of the U.S. prison population and privatization of prisons as a result. Furthermore, this Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act lengthened the list of crimes punishable by the death penalty. Biden was even quoted saying to Senator Orrin Hatch, "[l]et me define the liberal wing of the Democratic Party; the liberal wing of the Democratic Party is now for 60 new death penalties … the liberal wing of the Democratic Party is for 100,000 cops. The liberal wing of the Democratic Party is for 125,000 new state prison cells" in regards to this bill. I don't know about you, but Biden's idea of the Democratic Party is not the same as mine.

Though I realize this section ended up being quite long if you like to read further in depth about Joe Biden's role in criminal justice, or perhaps criminal injustice, Jamelle Bouie does a great job in the article linked here.

Abortion

Though Biden has recently changed his position on abortion, saying that his Catholic beliefs make him personally against it but that he doesn't wish to push those beliefs on others, I still find his earlier actions to be quite chilling. As a senator, Joe Biden has supported all sorts of pro-life legislation over his career and has long been an advocate against dilation and extraction abortion procedures and supported the Hyde amendment to ban the federal funding of abortion.

During the Reagan administration, Biden worked closely with the president in support of Reagan's Global Gag Rule against providing aid to NGOs that offer or inform patients about abortion care. The presidential candidate was even quoted during his time as senator saying he thought Roe v. Wade "went too far" and that he doesn't think "a woman has the sole right to say what should happen to her body."

We need a candidate who will stand their ground when it comes to the right to abortion access, not someone who will flip flop back and forth, conforming to whatever society finds acceptable at the time. Even if Joe Biden claims to have changed his mind on the topic, this country needs a president highly invested and dedicated to attaining abortion access for all and Joe Biden doesn't seem to fit that description. It might even be arguable that only a woman truly understands the importance of this issue, but that's just my opinion.

The Anita Hill Case

In a similar vein as the abortion topic, I find Biden's mishandling of the Anita Hill hearings to be especially disturbing. During Biden's time in politics, he presided over the hearing in which Anita Hill, an employee within the Department of Education and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, accused Supreme Court Nominee Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment and misconduct. These hearing were vital in determining whether Thomas's nomination would be confirmed.

During these Senate hearings, Hill's personal credibility was aggressively attacked by examiners as opposed to having an investigation for the truth. Instead of asking questions relevant to the case, she was badgered with questions meant to ruin her credibility so no one would believe her allegations. This form of questioning in cases of sexual harassment and misconduct are sexist and unacceptable. Ultimately, Thomas's nomination was put through and he now serves on the Supreme Court. However, Biden's role in this was greater than meets the eye. Biden has said that his "one regret is that I [Biden] didn't tone down the attacks on her by some of my Republican friends," he said in an interview for Teen Vogue in 2017. "I mean, they really went after her. As much as I tried to intervene, I did not gavel them out of order."

Biden apologized again in early April of this year, though many criticized it as a non-apology and political stunt for electoral support. "We knew a lot less about the extent of harassment back then, over 30 years ago," he said at a Biden Foundation event in New York City. "But she paid a terrible price, she was abused for the hearing. She was taken advantage of. Her reputation was attacked. I wish I could have done something."

Feel free to form your own opinions on the matter, but personally, this contributed a lot to my decision against Biden. Choosing to not help Anita Hill was choosing the side of the oppressor because like it or not Biden "could have done something" in his position presiding over the Senate hearings. Though I'd like for this article to be very factual, this section contributed to my title "Reasons I Won't Be Voting For Joe Biden, And You Shouldn't Either," because I felt the need to add my commentary on this topic so strongly. I'm not voting for Joe Biden because he was tasked with the job of overseeing these hearing and chose not to keep the senators which viciously attacked Hill in check by slamming the gavel and keeping the questioning relevant to the case. It is never okay to attack someone's character as an excuse for sexual harassment.

The Iraq War

In 2003, Biden chose to vote in favor of and continuously support the president on the use of military intervention abroad to promote American interests, specifically in Iraq. Biden has even gone so far as to directly suggest in a 2016 Politico interview that the U.S. should use full military force in Syria to help pressure a political solution.

Biden's support of the Iraq war is unsettling because of the many impacts of the Iraq War. Over 15 years later, the impact of those eight years in the Iraq War can still be felt. Nearly 4,500 Americans died in Iraq, over 30,000 wounded, and over $2 trillion spent on combat operations and reconstruction which contributed to the massive budget deficit. The impacts still linger in Iraq too; the casualties grew to be over 100,000 and though their government has become slightly more pluralistic, they are still not democratic and increasingly influenced by Iran.

The Iraq War is unequivocally one of the worst large scale mistakes the U.S. has made in recent history and I refuse to support a candidate who voted in favor of it.

The Mexican Border

Uncle Joe, though a Democrat sided with the Republicans again on this one. In 2006, Biden voted in favor of the border fence. Signed into law by President G.W. Bush, the Secure the Fence Act of 2006 made the immigration process significantly more stringent and created the border fence. This bill has actually been Trump's main point of focus when asking for support in building a wall at the Mexican border. He's been quoted many times saying he just wants the Democrats to be the 2006 Democrats who supported Secure the Fence.

This law was a major marker on the long, messy path the U.S. has been on in regards to immigration and the treatment of immigrants at the border.

In lieu of Biden's consistently outrageous past, I will not be voting for him. If anyone reading this feels passionate about any of these issues, I would strongly recommend reconsidering which candidate will tirelessly fight for the ideals you wish to see in government. It is so important that the candidate you vote for--and the president of this country--to be someone who is incredibly invested and dedicated to fighting for the issues you hold dear to your heart, not someone who is will simply agree with whatever stance society finds acceptable at the time in order to advance their political career.