# Quote — Joe Biden, Promises to Keep

> The system wasn't working, and I thought it was time to err on the side of a new model. What might work, I thought, was a system that promoted personal accountability, consistency, and certainty. Congress could say people who committed the same federal crime, under the same circumstances, were going to jail for the same amount of time. We could give judges a narrower set of sentencing guidelines to work with, and felons would be required to pay the same price. We'd be judging the crime, not the person.

- Author: [Joe Biden](https://www.leafyquotes.com/joe-biden.md)
- Book: [Promises to Keep](https://www.leafyquotes.com/joe-biden/promises-to-keep.md)
- Page: 123
- Source: [Wikiquote](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Joe_Biden#Promises_to_Keep_(2008)) ([CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/))
- Quote page: https://www.leafyquotes.com/joe-biden/promises-to-keep/the-system-wasnt

## More from this book

> The carnage was over, but there was still a bitter taste in my mouth.

p. 284 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/joe-biden/promises-to-keep/the-carnage-was.md)

> I think you're a damn war criminal and you should be tried as one.

p. 266 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/joe-biden/promises-to-keep/i-think-youre.md)

> I believe all Americans are born with certain inalienable rights. As a child of God, I believe my rights are not derived from the Constitution. My rights are not derived from any government. My rights are not denied by any majority. My rights are because I exist. They were given to me and each of my fellow citizens by our creator, and they represent the essence of human dignity....

p. 194 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/joe-biden/promises-to-keep/i-believe-all.md)