Among its constituent parts and provisions were: Attempts by Congress to make changes to the U.S. Criminal Code began again in the early congressional meetings of 1971, after almost a half-century of only minor amendments and additions.

[8] A major qualm still present in the early 1970s with the U.S. Criminal Code was the issues of sentencing disparity and the parole system.

In 1975, Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA) introduced a bill to Congress attempting to modify this existing issue in the judicial system through the creation of a sentencing committee.

During this time, the House had proposed Criminal Code revision legislation of its own that was met with intense criticism from interest groups, such as the American Civil Liberties Union, and justice officials.

[11] In August of 1979, Rep. Robert Drinan (D-MA) announced to media that the House and Senate judiciary committees had agreed on the major chapters that would frame the reformation of the Criminal Code.

[14] In his memorandum of disapproval, Reagan expressed to Congress to present a new crime bill that, unlike that which was previously presented, would focus more on the details of bail and sentencing reform in addition to creating a way to deal with foreign and domestic drug efforts without creating a new bureaucratic agency.

[26] Furthermore, the 1984 act shifted the burden of proof to the defendant, who must show "clear and convincing evidence" of the meeting the legal definition of insanity.

[27][26][20][24][28] Previous legislature had placed the burden of proof on the prosecutor, who was required to show beyond a reasonable doubt the defendant of the case was unable to meet the standard in which they could be considered legally insane.