The House of Representatives passed two bills on Sept. 16 that seek to change how crimes are prosecuted in Washington as the Trump administration continues to keep the National Guard active in the nation’s capital to crack down on crime.
The first bill, titled the “D.C. Crimes Act,” would limit the D.C. government’s authority over its own criminal sentencing laws. It also eliminates its authority to change any criminal liability sentence that is in effect on the date the bill is enacted.
It also lowers the age at which an individual is recognized as a youth offender from 24 to 18, and requires criminal sentencing to at least match mandatory minimums for adult offenders, overruling local policy. In addition, it requires D.C.’s attorney general to publish a public website that displays youth criminal act statistics.
The second bill lowers the age at which a juvenile could be tried as an adult for certain criminal offenses to 14 years of age.
Current law in Washington dictates that an individual under 18 be tried as a juvenile in family court. However, a 16-year-old could be tried as an adult if charged with murder, first-degree sexual abuse or burglary, robbery while armed, or assault with the intent to commit those crimes.
Someone as young as 15 could also be tried as an adult if that person is alleged to have committed a felony and being tried as an adult is determined to be in the best interest of the public welfare, or there were “no reasonable prospects for the individual’s rehabilitation.”
The “D.C. Crimes Act” passed the lower chamber by a vote of 240–179, with 30 Democrats voting in favor along with their Republican colleagues.
The D.C. Juvenile Sentencing Reform Act was passed 225–203. Eight Democrats supported the legislation.
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) was the only Republican to vote no on both bills.
The two bills now advance to the Senate.
The legislation comes on the heels of President Donald Trump’s announcement that he would deploy the National Guard to Memphis, Tennessee, repeating the federal intervention to crack down on crime demonstrated in the nation’s capital over the past several weeks.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee expressed his readiness to work with the federal government. Attorney General Pam Bondi will oversee the joint operations.
“We’ve got to go save our big cities,” Trump said, highlighting other cities like New Orleans and St. Louis as other possible points of action.
Travis Gillmore and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
