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Sentencing Law and Policy
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Covering VP candidate Tim Kaine’s history on crime and punishment issues (especially the death penalty)

By Douglas Berman

Kaine_official_high_res_photoThe folks at FAMM now have this very helpful and timely webpage reviewing some recent and prior statements by Tim Kaine, the former Viginia Gov and current US Senator whom Hillary Clinton has now picked as her running mate.  That page also provides this interesting accounting of “Kaine’s record on criminal justice issues”

  • 1999: As Mayor of Richmond, Kaine was a supporter of Project Exile, a program launched in Virginia’s capital city as a response to rising crime rates that moved gun offenses involving drugs and convicted felons out of state courts and into the federal system, where gun offenders would face mandatory minimum sentences. Kaine claimed the program was restoring hope to the city, telling the New York Times, “In Richmond, there has been an intense need for people to become believers in their own community. High crime has been our psychological downer. But Project Exile is driving the crime rate down, and that is starting to make Richmonders believers again.”
  • 2005: During his gubernatorial campaign, Kaine’s website highlighted the role of Project Exile in making Virginia’s capital safer: “Richmond’s success in reducing violent crime was built in part on Project Exile. Project Exile is based on a strong working relationship among federal, state, and local law enforcement officials to maximize the punishment of criminals who commit crimes with guns.”
  • 2007: As Governor, Kaine blocked death penalty expansion bills that would allow capital charges to be brought against accomplices and those indirectly involved in first degree murders.
  • 2012: During his senatorial campaign, Kaine said he would “continue Senator Jim Webb’s effort to focus attention on the overuse of incarceration in this nation, especially as applied to African-American males.”
  • 2014: Senator Kaine supported the Smarter Sentencing Act, saying it “would reduce mandatory minimums for non-violent drug offenders and give judges greater authority to determine the right sentence for the crime – saving billions in taxpayer dollars and putting faith back into our criminal justice system.”
  • 2015: Senator Kaine supported the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act, the most recent major bipartisan attempt at criminal justice reform. He said the country has “an embarrassingly high number of people in prison compared to other countries” and that he believed reform could “reduce the costs of incarceration and promote fairness within our criminal justice system without compromising public safety.”

In addition, a number of mainstream and new media sources have now run a number of articles about Kaine’s criminal justice history (most of which, notably, are focused on the death penalty). Here are headlines and links:

  • From BuzzFeed News here, “Tim Kaine Has A Long, Complicated History With The Death Penalty”

  • From the Huffington Post here, “As Governor, Tim Kaine Stepped In To Halt The Execution Of A Mentally Incompetent Man”

  • From the New York Times here, “On Death Penalty Cases, Tim Kaine Revealed Inner Conflict”

  • From Reuters here, “Kaine’s crime-busting past may hurt Clinton’s outreach to blacks”