House passes controversial DC crime bill, threatens council’s sentencing power
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WASHINGTON (DC News Now) — The U.S. House passed a bill Wednesday that would limit how the District controls its local criminal sentencing laws.
The D.C. Criminal Reforms to Immediately Make Everyone Safe (CRIMES) Act aims to restrict the D.C. Council’s sentencing authority and modifies the Youth Rehabilitation Act of 1985.
The 1985 legislation considers eligible offenders as “youth offenders,” as long as they are younger than 25. Under the new bill, youth offender status would be capped at 18.
The CRIMES Act would also restrict the D.C. Council’s ability to pass legislation that would change criminal sentencing laws.
US House to vote on DC CRIMES Act; District leaders voice opposition
Before Wednesday’s vote, many officials in the District voiced their opposition to the act. In a joint letter sent to the House, D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb, Mayor Muriel Bowser and Council Chairman Phil Mendelson wrote, in part:
[…]The bill would prevent District policymakers from responding to emerging crime trends by enhancing criminal penalties, or even create new crimes. Swift and certain consequences are essential to deterring crime, and persistent congressional interference is at odds with that goal. Given recent experience, these delays could be extensive, preventing courts from imposing longer sentences while legislation languishes in Congress.
Muriel Bowser, Mayor of the District of Columbia; Phil Mendelson, Chairman, Council of the District of Columbia; Brian L. Schwalb, Attorney General for the District of Columbia
On the House floor, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) called the bill “an egregious violation of D.C. residents’ right to self-governance.”
In her speech she also said:
This bill would be the biggest rollback of D.C. self-government in a generation. This bill says the D.C. Council may not “enact any act, resolution, or rule to change any criminal liability sentence in effect on the date of the enactment of the DC CRIMES Act of 2024.” This provision, which does not define the term criminal liability sentence, is as poorly drafted as it is offensive. It takes away D.C.’s authority to increase or decrease statutory criminal penalties. If D.C. wanted to increase penalties for violent crime, it could not do so. This bill could even be construed to prevent D.C. from establishing any new crimes at all.
Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC)
The bill still must be passed by the Democratic-controlled Senate and approved by the White House to become law, a major hurdle for supporters of the D.C. CRIMES Act. The White House issued a statement in the days before the vote, saying the administration “strongly opposes” the legislation.
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