The House passed two bills on Tuesday to assert congressional control over the District of Columbia’s sentencing policies, the first portion of a slate of legislation coming to a vote this week aimed at overhauling the criminal justice system of Washington, D.C.
The first bill is the D.C. Criminal Reforms to Immediately Make Everyone Safe Act, or DC CRIMES Act, which would prohibit the District’s local officials from changing sentencing laws and restrict the ability of local judges to be more lenient with younger criminals.
And the second bill, H.R. 5140, lowers the age for which youth offenders can be tried as an adult for certain criminal offenses, changing the threshold to 14 years of age.
The DC CRIMES Act passed 240-179, while H.R. 5140 passed 225-203.
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The DC CRIMES Act amends the D.C. Home Rule Act to prohibit the D.C. Council from enacting any changes to sentencing laws, as well as changing a provision that allows for lighter sentences for some convicts younger than 25 — lowering the threshold to 18.
It also removes a provision that allows youth offenders to be sentenced below mandatory minimums, and requires the attorney general to publish a website on juvenile crime statistics.
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