Introduction
In the eyes of the mainstream media, President Joe Biden is often portrayed as a champion of the American working class, an advocate for minority communities, and a figure who has endured hardship and loss. But for anyone who has felt the weight of America’s “justice” system, Biden’s record paints a starkly different picture. Far from being a hero for marginalized communities, Biden’s legislative history includes actions that devastated millions, particularly people of color. His role in crafting and pushing laws that disproportionately harmed minority communities raises the question: has he committed crimes against humanity under the guise of lawmaking?
This is not an accusation made lightly. It is, instead, based on irrefutable facts and documented impacts of laws that he not only supported but championed. Let’s examine his involvement in three particularly harmful pieces of legislation: the 1994 Crime Bill, the 1996 Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA), and the 1998 Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA). These laws fundamentally altered America’s justice system—and not for the better.
The 1994 Crime Bill: The Catalyst for Mass Incarceration
Joe Biden was not a passive player in the 1994 Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act; he was one of its chief architects. Commonly referred to as the “Crime Bill,” this legislation laid the groundwork for the modern era of mass incarceration, leading to one of the most significant expansions of the prison population in American history. Under the banner of “tough on crime,” Biden’s bill mandated harsher sentences, allocated billions to build new prisons, and introduced the controversial “three strikes” rule, which automatically sentenced repeat offenders to life imprisonment, regardless of the nature of their crimes.
The consequences of this legislation were catastrophic, particularly for Black and Latino communities. According to the Brennan Center for Justice, the bill was one of the primary drivers behind a quadrupling of the U.S. prison population from the 1980s through the early 2000s. Data from the Bureau of Justice Statistics shows that by 2000, nearly 2 million Americans were behind bars—a trend directly accelerated by the 1994 Crime Bill.
To Biden, the bill may have seemed like a means to restore “order” and “safety” to American cities, but the reality was it placed generations of people, primarily minorities, into a cycle of incarceration. Families were torn apart, opportunities for rehabilitation were denied, and millions were subjected to a penal system that prioritized punishment over compassion or reform. The financial impact, too, was profound: billions of taxpayer dollars went into building prisons rather than into schools, healthcare, or community support systems that could have genuinely reduced crime.
The 1996 Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA): Eroding Due Process Rights
Just two years after the Crime Bill, Biden endorsed another piece of legislation that further eroded the rights of Americans, particularly those in marginalized communities. The 1996 AEDPA was passed in the aftermath of the Oklahoma City bombing, with Biden championing the bill as a necessary tool to protect America from future terrorist threats. However, this law reached far beyond the realm of terrorism, fundamentally altering the habeas corpus process and limiting the ability of prisoners to appeal wrongful convictions.
Prior to AEDPA, prisoners had relatively robust avenues for appealing their convictions, particularly if new evidence surfaced. AEDPA curtailed these rights by imposing strict time limits on habeas petitions and restricting the grounds on which appeals could be filed. In practice, this meant that even those wrongfully convicted often lost their chance for justice simply because they couldn’t meet arbitrary deadlines. (This is what happened to me)
For minority communities, where wrongful convictions are alarmingly common, AEDPA was a devastating blow. Data shows that African Americans are seven times more likely to be wrongfully convicted of serious crimes such as murder than their white counterparts. Biden’s support for AEDPA made it substantially more difficult for these individuals to receive fair treatment under the law, disproportionately affecting those already marginalized and least able to fight back.
The 1998 Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA): Silencing Prisoners’ Voices
In 1998, Biden again helped enact legislation that targeted the rights of some of the most vulnerable people in society: prisoners. The Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) was introduced under the premise of reducing “frivolous” lawsuits by incarcerated individuals, a narrative that Biden and his colleagues used to justify restricting prisoners’ rights to sue over conditions of confinement. However, the PLRA went far beyond addressing so-called frivolous suits, imposing obstacles that made it virtually impossible for prisoners to challenge systemic abuses.
The act requires prisoners to exhaust all available internal remedies before they can file a lawsuit, and it imposes filing fees that are prohibitively expensive for most incarcerated individuals. Furthermore, the law restricts the ability of courts to intervene, even in cases of clear abuse or unsafe conditions.
The results were predictable. Cases of abuse, including physical violence, inadequate medical care, and unsafe living conditions, often went unaddressed because prisoners lacked the legal recourse to fight back. For prisoners of color—already incarcerated at disproportionately high rates—PLRA was yet another assault on their rights and humanity, ensuring that their cries for help were stifled by bureaucratic red tape.
The Reality of “Good Intentions”
Biden’s actions have often been presented as having the “good intention” of protecting communities, promoting public safety, and deterring crime. But intentions without consideration for impact amount to negligence. For millions of Americans, particularly those in minority communities, Biden’s laws were not about “safety” or “justice.” They were policies that inflicted harm, silenced voices, and criminalized entire demographics.
Looking at these policies, one cannot ignore the fact that Biden was fully aware of their likely impact. During the 1994 Crime Bill’s passage, he famously said, “We do everything but hang people for jaywalking in this bill.” He knew exactly what he was creating—a punitive system that punished indiscriminately and disproportionately affected those already marginalized by society.
These aren’t the words or actions of a champion of minority communities. These are the policies of a man who, under the color of law, played a direct role in creating one of the most punitive justice systems in the world, with outcomes that meet many definitions of crimes against humanity.
Confronting the Truth, Seeking Accountability
For those who have lived the consequences of these laws, Biden’s “compassionate” image doesn’t align with the lived reality. His policies helped create an America that criminalizes poverty, punishes people for who they are, and perpetuates a cycle of incarceration that continues to devastate communities of color.
If we are to move forward, we must acknowledge the full weight of Joe Biden’s role in building this system. History demands accountability—not just for individual politicians but for the laws that reshape entire generations. As someone who has experienced firsthand the realities of America’s justice system, I know that change is only possible when we confront the truth. And the truth is that Joe Biden’s legacy includes policies that must be seen for what they are: a profound violation of human rights, carried out under the guise of “law and order.”
Justice delayed is justice denied, but justice ignored is justice erased. Let us not forget what Biden’s legacy has cost us all.
By exposing the full extent of Biden’s policies, we take a step toward accountability, healing, and a future where justice genuinely serves the people—not a political agenda.
Until Next Time…
I Am,
Ewing Redmond Samuels III
