Criminal Justice

“Crime is the single greatest threat to national and individual security we face today.” -Arlen Specter

Even before becoming a Senator, the state of the American criminal justice system was a topic of great concern for Arlen Specter.During his tenure as District Attorney in Philadelphia, reform was a top item on his agenda. He tackled corruption in the courts themselves by prosecuting city officials found guilty of corruption, becoming a driving force behind the abolition, in 1968, of Pennsylvania’s magisterial system. His successful implementation of what was called the“accelerated rehabilitation disposition” program, designed to move nonviolent offenders quickly to probation instead of costly and time-consuming trials, became a nationwide model. At the sametime, he moved to strengthen community trust in the city’s police, actively prosecuting officers accused of brutality or racial discrimination.

Specter’s advocacy for criminal justice reform guided the roles he took after his 1980 election to the U.S. Senate. He immediately joined the Criminal Law and Juvenile Justice subcommittees of the Judiciary Committee, even knowing the latter was targeted for potential dissolution by the Reagan administration. Specter’s approach to juvenile justice reflected his belief that young offenders could successfully be educated and rehabilitated, arguing for increased federal funding to support programs that aimed to do just that. By establishing Pell Grants for prisoners and founding the Office of Corrections Education, Specter argued that the cost to educate underage criminals was far less than the consequences of leaving past offenders with no way to improve themselves. Knowing the financial strains of prosecutorial and prison systems, he successfully secured federal funding for many of these initiatives.

One of Senator Specter’s most enduring contributions to the legal system came in the form of the passage of the Armed Criminal Career Act of 1984. Owing to his experience in the District Attorney’s office, Specter believed firmly in the tough prosecution of repeat offenders. After fighting for several years to get the act passed, its adoption in 1984 and expansion in 1986 was praised by prosecutors around the country. Under the terms of the act, those convicted of three serious drug-related or violent felonies would face a minimum of 15 years in federal prison. The aim of the law was to both remove recidivist offenders from the streets and ease the burden of overcrowding in state and local jails.

Many other landmark pieces of criminal legislation also bear signs of Specter’s influence. He was a key bipartisan supporter of the passage of the Violence Against Women Act in 1994, which provided stronger protection for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault, as well as harsher penalties to perpetrators of these crimes. He also supported the Clery Act, which requires higher education institutions receiving federal funding to disclose reports of violent crime on campus. He introduced the Campus Crime Disclosure Act of 1998 to strengthen the reporting requirements. As part of his efforts, he worked with the parents of Jeanne Clery, the Pennsylvania college student whose 1986 murder was instrumental in the passage of the original 1990 law. The continued enforcement of these laws pays tribute to Specter’s legacy of public service.