Thursday, June 24, 2021
PMT: The Biden Plan
Yesterday, President Biden devoted time to laying out some plans about criminal justice. It was... uninspiring. In short, he announced that communities can use federal stimulus money on bolstering their police departments.
Since I began tracking candidate-then-president Biden's proposals in this area a few years ago, I've seen a remarkable consistency: his answers almost always involved either study groups or more spending. And in this area, neither really address the core needs, which are about new and better ways of doing things. Yes, I know that it sounds like his studies would be good for this, but in criminal justice we already have plenty of studies to look to, and more studies often just serve as delaying tactics in the absence of action.
Most of what needs to be done-- improve clearance rates for crimes and reduce prison time-- doesn't really need more money. It needs willingness to change.
It almost seems like maybe they don't really want to change things.
