Taking over D.C.
A Test for Grabbing Power Everywhere
Power-hungry members of Congress have waged a legislative attack on D.C.’s criminal legal system. They have proposed a series of bills that collectively have one clear goal: to seize control from D.C. locals and transform D.C.’s legal system into one of the most punitive and carceral systems in the nation.
Top arguments & evidence
What This Power Grab Looks Like
H.R. 5125 would push local officials out of the selection process for D.C. judges
01
Politicizing Justice
H.R. 5179 would strip D.C. voters of the right to elect their own Attorneys General. H.R. 5125 would push local officials out of the selection process for D.C. judges.
02
Overriding Locally-Enacted Criminal Justice and Public Safety Reforms
H.R. 5107 repeals most of the Comprehensive Policing and Justice Reform Amendment Act of 2022, dismantling restrictions on use of force, ending transparency and accountability requirements for the police, and reinstating broad police powers.
03
More Incarceration, Less Safety
H.R. 5214 would undo decades-old cashless bail and prioritization of risk-based release, forcing cash bail or pretrial detention for many crimes.
Under D.C.’s current model, judges base release on individualized risk assessments rather than wealth, and the vast majority of people released pretrial appear for court and do not reoffend.
H.R. 5172 would impose sweeping mandatory minimum prison sentences and expand life without parole penalties, stripping judges of discretion and rolling back sentencing reforms despite decades of evidence that longer sentences do not reduce crime.
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What we know
The Larger Implications of the D.C. Takeover
The attacks on D.C. are also an attack on democracy itself. If these bills prevail, they will set a precedent for usurping power from local residents and officials to make basic decisions about how to allocate their resources, who will represent them, and what their laws will be. Here’s why that matters:
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Silences Dissent
We have seen some of the most valiant fights for democracy and the rule of law happen in this country’s courthouses. Judges and attorneys general have been at the forefront of fighting back against this administration. But allowing them to become personal appointees–forcing them to answer to the president, and not their local communities–weakens their ability to speak out and stand up.
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Local Communities End up Paying the Price
More incarceration means more jail beds, more jail staff, more court personnel and more court resources–which ultimately means more money that D.C. must cough up at the expense of its own people’s articulated needs and priorities.
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Sets a Dangerous Precedent
Washington, D.C.’s unique status allows the federal government to exert more control over its local matters than in other states. But that doesn’t mean other states will be spared: if the D.C. takeover is normalized, we have every indication that what happens in D.C. will eventually happen to other states throughout this country through other means.
For example, this administration has already threatened to deploy the National Guard or withhold federal funding as leverage to influence state-level policies.
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Eliminating cashless bail makes us less safe
Those attacking D.C. are trying to weaken its justice system by replacing local laws with some of the most extreme policies in the country–at a high cost. The bottom line is eliminating cashless bail makes us less safe, and forces local resources into expensive, unnecessary incarceration, instead of proven programs that reduce crime.
In the news
D.C. Takeover In the News
These stories show the takeover of our nation’s capital is all about power and nothing to do with safety
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