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“President Joe Biden said [last] Thursday he is willing to sign a Republican-sponsored resolution blocking new District of Columbia laws that would overhaul how the nation’s capital prosecutes and punishes crime…
“The resolution passed the House with some Democratic support and appears poised to clear the U.S. Senate on a bipartisan basis as well, perhaps as early as next week. After Biden privately told senators that he’d sign the measure overriding the changes, some Democratic senators said they’d support the measure too. Biden later tweeted that while he supported statehood for D.C., ‘I don’t support some of the changes D.C. Council put forward over the mayor’s objections — such as lowering penalties for carjackings.’” AP News
The right applauds Biden’s decision, arguing that it is necessary to preserve public safety in the capital.
“The Council of the District of Columbia, apparently unconcerned by a huge spike in crime, especially in carjackings, which are up 327% so far this year over the same period in 2020, decided that this was the moment to pass a bill reducing sentences for carjacking, robberies, and burglaries…
“The crime bill would also abolish mandatory minimum sentences and burden the courts with jury trials for every misdemeanor charge. This means criminals would have the incentive to hold out for a trial in hope that charges would be dismissed to clear the docket…
“The people this bill would harm most, as always, are the urban poor, who are disproportionately victimized by criminals. The measure was so crazy that Democratic Mayor Muriel Bowser vetoed it — and the D.C. Council is so woke that it overrode her veto, 12-1.”
Editorial Board, Washington Examiner
“Congress has oversight authority of the district under the U.S. Constitution, though it hasn’t overturned one of its laws in more than 30 years. This one deserves it. Crime has spiked in the district as it has in many big cities, and it defies all common sense to go easier on criminals when they are piling up victims…
“Democrats prize ‘home rule’ in the district, which is run by fellow Democrats. But they also want to retain their Senate majority in 2024, when several of their Members from swing states are up for re-election… Mr. Biden doesn’t want to give Republicans an easy opening on crime in 2024. If he doesn’t veto, Republicans won’t have the election issue next year. But they will have done a great service by making the nation’s capital safer for residents and visitors.”
Editorial Board, Wall Street Journal
“Biden, who essentially renounced his tough-on-crime policies of the 90s during his 2020 presidential campaign, has spent the last two years trying to separate himself from those who want to continue defunding police and instituting weak punishments in the name of social justice…
“Now, Biden has a tangible example he can point to as evidence that he supports the police, wants to crack down on thugs, and isn’t afraid to buck his political party in the name of public safety… As Biden’s good friend Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) told Forbes, ‘It’s smart politics. He was running into a buzzsaw. You don’t want to get left of the D.C. mayor.’”
Tim Meads, Daily Wire
The left opposes Biden’s decision, arguing that the changes are reasonable and that DC should be permitted to govern itself.
The left opposes Biden’s decision, arguing that the changes are reasonable and that DC should be permitted to govern itself.
“The [current] maximum sentence for armed carjacking is 40 years, the same as second-degree murder. No one—not a single person—is sentenced to 40 years for armed carjacking in D.C., or anything close to it. The absolute harshest penalties for the offense today run about 15 years. So the new code reduced the maximum penalty from 40 years to 24 years. That’s still nine years longer than the lengthiest sentences handed down today…
“D.C.’s current code has just one robbery statute with a maximum penalty of 15 years. It covers everything from nonviolent pickpocketing to beating a victim to the point of near-death. The new code, by contrast, would divide the crime into armed and unarmed robbery, then split each category into first, second, and third-degree offenses. A minor crime, like unarmed pickpocketing, would incur a two-year max, while a major crime, like violent, armed robbery, would incur a 20-year max…
“A key goal of the bill is to make prosecution easier by clearly defining crimes that are currently ambiguous. It also facilitates prosecution by increasing various penalties. The bill would jack up max sentences for various sex crimes and gun offenses while boosting the max for attempting murder from five years to 22.5 years. It even introduces a new crime, endangerment with a firearm, to cover any individual who fires a gun in public, helping prosecutors charge shootings when they cannot prove intent to injure or kill (a problem that currently bedevils D.C. law enforcement). All of these features would make the District safer.”
Mark Joseph Stern, Slate
“One need not believe that the changes are a good idea to find this appalling. That’s how democracy works: Sometimes the people make the wrong choice… Far from proving that D.C. cannot govern itself, Congress’s interference with the city illustrates the necessity of D.C. statehood…
“Without real federal representation, there is no one to stand up for the city’s interests in Congress, and those who make decisions about the District’s affairs are accountable to constituents elsewhere, who have no reason to defend the city’s interests or autonomy. The Republican commitment to ‘local control’ is entirely superficial; I grew up in D.C. and live in Texas, and it is very clear to me that the principle applies only to GOP-run jurisdictions… The people of Washington, D.C., have no less a right to govern their own affairs than the people of Texas or Florida.”
Adam Serwer, The Atlantic
