D.C. Takeover Issue Explainer
5 Things to Know about the D.C. Takeover
Power-hungry members of Congress have waged a legislative attack on D.C.’s criminal legal system by proposing a series of bills that could transform D.C.’s legal system into one of the most punitive and carceral systems in the nation.
These bills are about seizing power. The proposed bills aim to strip power away from D.C.’s judges, legislators, elected officials and the community itself and replace its existing laws and procedures with some of the most extremist policies in the country.
These bills are not about safety. The Trump administration did not descend upon D.C., a city experiencing a historically-low crime rate, out of concern for public safety. If anything, the administration has done everything in its power to undermine what makes D.C. safe: gutting vital violence-prevention programs, refusing to fill judicial vacancies, deluging the court system with weak cases, and slashing the city budget, which serves as a lifeline for the city’s schools, social services, and emergency response agencies. Indeed, these bills are designed to further break the D.C. justice system
The attacks on D.C. are also an attack on democracy itself. If local residents and officials cannot make basic decisions about how to allocate their resources, who represents them, what their laws will be, then we no longer have a representative government. The attack on D.C. is central to this Administration’s larger authoritarian ambitions.
The attack on D.C. is part of a broader erosion of racial inclusion and fairness. While the attacks on D.C. will hurt everyone and should offend us all, D.C. is particularly vulnerable to attacks because it is a city led by a Black mayor with a large Black population that will most acutely feel the harmful impacts of these proposed bills. If these bills pass, Black voters’ voices will be silenced, Black leadership and power will be diminished, and Black communities will have to front the costs of a legal system that punishes better than it protects.
D.C. should be in charge of its own justice system because when policies fail or succeed, it’s the city–not Congress–that lives with the results. 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. More incarceration means more jail beds, more staff, and more court resources, which ultimately means more money the district has to spend instead of investing in the needs and priorities of its own residents.
If passed, the bills will strip D.C. residents of their right to decide what makes their community safe–and sets a dangerous precedent for the rest of the country.
For more information see https://www.wearesafety.info/