Criminal Justice Experts: “Congress’ Pro-Prison Crime Bills Will Make DC Less Safe”

[Washington, DC] – On Wednesday, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is expected to review and vote on bills that would override DC’s criminal legal system and impose sweeping federal control over local decision-making. In all, the bills represent an alarming federal intrusion into DC’s sovereignty and would imprison more people, including children, for longer periods of time.

Kara Gotsch, executive director of The Sentencing Project, said: 

“We all believe that public safety must be a top priority. But we have decades of evidence proving extreme punishments do not make us safer. Instead, they trap kids and parents behind bars, rip families apart, and devastate communities for generations.

“The good news is we know what does reduce crime: Investing in community-based services and interventions has been proven to address the root causes of crime – preventing it from happening in the first place. We’ve seen such investments dramatically decrease violent crime rates in Washington, DC, well before this ill-advised takeover began.

“The bottom line is lawmakers cannot talk about public safety while pushing failed policies that make us less safe. If Congress approves this legislation, some of which is blatantly unconstitutional, they will disregard the will of voters, dismantle effective criminal justice reforms, and harm Washingtonians.

“Worse still, Congress will green-light a broader federal power grab that threatens not just DC, but cities across the country.

“What’s happening in DC is a test case that could open the door for federal overreach into communities nationwide, even as cities across the country report decreased crime rates. Lawmakers must reject this intrusion and stand up for both safety and democracy.”

The mark up session will be held on Wednesday, September 10th,  in room HVC-210 of the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center, or you can tune into the livestream here.

Background

The Sentencing Project has identified several bills in this package that would be particularly damaging for criminal justice and undermine community safety.

Strong Sentences for Safer D.C. Streets Act

• This bill proposes substantial increases in minimum sentences – raising the mandatory minimum sentence for first degree murder from 30 years in prison to life without parole and eliminates the exception for minors, in violation of Miller v. Alabama (2012), the US Supreme Court case which held that mandatory life without parole for 17 year olds and younger is unconstitutional.
• It imposes lengthy new mandatory minimums for rape, second degree murder, and first degree sexual abuse and raises mandatory minimums for several other offenses.
• Criminological evidence is clear: increasing mandatory minimum sentences will not improve safety, but it will have two very predictable impacts. It will increase the burden on the already critically-strained federal Bureau of Prisons and it will increase racial disparities.

Repeal D.C.’s Incarceration Reduction Amendment Act (IRAA) of 2016 and the Second Chance Amendment Act of 2022

• IRAA and Second Chance Amendment Act are  “second look” judicial sentence review policies that allow judges to review sentences after a person has served 15 years for an offense committed as a youth or emerging adult.
• Second look sentencing makes DC safer – it provides vital hope and motivation to those in prison and has been an extraordinary success, with a 3% recidivism rate. Recipients must meet a high bar to earn release and many have come home to become community leaders.
• Second look sentencing is endorsed by leading legal experts. The Model Penal Code recommends that everyone who committed a crime as an adult should receive the opportunity for resentencing after serving 15 years in prison. The American Bar Association’s House of Delegates urges lawmakers to authorize courts to take a second look at criminal sentences after 10 years of imprisonment.
• Record sealing and expungement laws like the Second Chance Amendment Act strengthen the workforce and help keep people out of prison by ensuring that a criminal record is not a lifetime sentence to unemployment.

H.R. 4922, the DC Criminal Reforms to Immediately Make Everyone Safer (DC CRIMES) Act 

• Limits youth offender status in the District of Columbia to individuals 18 years of age or younger, to direct the Attorney General of the District of Columbia to establish and operate a publicly accessible website containing updated statistics on juvenile crime in the District of Columbia, to amend the District of Columbia Home Rule Act to prohibit the Council of the District of Columbia from enacting changes to existing criminal liability sentences, and for other purposes.
• The Youth Rehabilitation Act gives discretion to judges to sentence teens and young adults in a way that aligns with research about adolescent brain development. The YRA reduces recidivism. Rolling back the YRA  would increase sentences for youth and young adults, worsen racial disparities, and harm public safety.
• This bill is also an attack on Home Rule which would remove the Council’s ability to change criminal laws and the DC Sentencing Commission’s ability to change the sentencing guidelines. Congress struggles to pass even the most basic essential pieces of legislation – it does not have the capacity to respond to all emergent safety concerns in the District.

H.R. 5140, the District of Columbia Juvenile Sentencing Reform Act 

• Lowers the age at which a minor may be tried as an adult for certain criminal offenses in the District of Columbia to 14 years of age.
• Teenagers are developmentally distinct from adults. The juvenile justice system, unlike the criminal justice system, is designed to address adolescent offending.
• Youth charged as if they are adults are more likely to reoffend than those held in the juvenile system.