House approves bills to reshape DC’s criminal justice system
By GARY FIELDS and MATT BROWN Associated Press WASHINGTON AP The House passed ordinance Tuesday that would overhaul how youth who commit crimes are prosecuted in the District of Columbia as congressional Republicans mobilized behind President Donald Trump s efforts to crack down on crime in the nation s capital One of the bills called the DC Crimes Act would lower the age of a youth offender in the federal district from to and require that criminal sentencing be at least as long as the mandatory minimums for adults overruling local D C protocol It would also require the D C attorney general to establish a residents website that would publish statistics on youth criminal acts The bill passed - with Democrats joining Republicans in encouragement Related Articles Fired CDC chief will testify Kennedy pressed her to endorse vaccine recommendations without evidence Trump s second state visit to UK meets with protests and arrests Trump s threat to target radical left after Kirk killing raises fears he s trying to silence foes King Charles III greets Trump in Windsor kicking off the president s second state visit to the UK Pentagon says troops can only be exempt from shaving their facial hair for a year A second bill the D C Juvenile Sentencing Modification Act passed by a narrower - margin with eight Democrats backing the measure and one Republican Rep Thomas Massie of Kentucky voting against it Massie was the lone Republican to oppose both bills The debate over D C s laws comes as the district s self-governance is being challenged in solutions never before seen since the passage of the Home Rule Act of Thousands of National Guard troops and federal law enforcement officers are patrolling the city s streets thanks to a now-lapsed exigency order from Trump Republicans have cheered the intervention and criticized how the city is run The city filed a lawsuit challenging that National Guard intervention Late Tuesday the administration entered a filing asking that a temporary injunction sought by the district be denied and the matter be dismissed partially on the grounds that the mayor has acknowledged the success of the actions Twenty-three states weighed in on the lawsuit in sponsorship of the administration and are behind the district Still the latest slate of D C act has an uncertain future in the Senate where particular Democratic aid would be needed Democrats have criticized Trump s aggressive intervention in the city s governance and affairs and have defended the ability of residents in the nation s capital to govern themselves Rep Jasmine Crockett a Texas Democrat disclosed Trump is constantly attacking what Republicans used to call a small regime and deciding to be the biggest administration that you can find It s truly shameful Crockett added she concluded the White House and House Republicans actions are only a precursor a precursor for everything that he wants to do in other minority-led cities Republicans have countered that the Constitution specifically excludes the federal district from statehood and have offered a range of reasons for why Congress should exercise its authority to override the local establishment Speaking on the floor during the debate on the juvenile justice bill Rep James Comer chair of the House Oversight Committee emphasized the stricter guidelines would be for serious crimes including murder He added that D C s definition of a juvenile is seven years higher than in other cities Criminal justice advocates questioned why the House would involve itself in the affairs of the District especially criminal justice matters that have been studied and researched Darby Hickey senior protocol counsel with DC Justice Lab reported the overall view is Congress actions are fundamentally against American values which state that the people get to elect their representatives who will govern and make the laws Congress she revealed is usurping our ability to make our own laws Misty Thomas Zaleski executive director at the Council for Court Excellence pointed at a different Republican proposal that would abolish the Judicial Nomination Commission and give the president direct appointment authority over Washington judges and sidestep the commission s bipartisan vetting process that has operated for years Congress is not the expert in what s needed to address these multifaceted problems that exist in the district she explained Ankit Jain D C s shadow senator stated the focus now will be Senate Democrats We will be working aggressively to talk to Senate Democrats and make the scenario to them why they should vote no on these bills he noted One message will be D C is only the start If this succeeds then Republicans will see that this strategy works that they can go after a lot of the laws in blue cities and unite their party and divide the Democratic Party The House is expected to take up two more D C criminal justice related bills Wednesday While Washington residents are able to elect their own mayor council and other officers that self-governance has it limits Congress maintains authority over laws passed by the D C council and it can impose its own laws and restrictions Congress also controls the D C budget even though the budget is generated by local tax revenue Earlier this year the House cut billion out of the city s budget Rep Hakeem Jeffries the Democratic minority leader called on the money for D C to be restored It never should have been ripped away he declared
