Pinto said she intends to present the measure to the D.C. Council next week for a late January vote. “My hope and expectation is that the council supports this common sense package,” she added.
Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser, who has collaborated with Pinto on other criminal laws, has endorsed the plan. Bowser has waged several skirmishes with the council over criminal justice problems. Last year, she vetoed a thorough overhaul of the District's criminal code, saying the reduction in maximum terms on some significant offenses “sent the wrong message” during a crime surge.
The council overrode her veto, but Republicans in Congress rallied Democratic backing to rescind the measure, humiliating the Council. Bowser backed Pinto's measure, which combines numerous mayor-endorsed initiatives.
“We know that driving down crime requires us to send a clear message that if you make our city less safe, if you bring violence to our community, you will be held accountable,” Bowser said Wednesday. I look forward to putting this bill into law and urge the Council to take urgent action to adopt it unanimously.”
It was instantly condemned by judicial reform activists as an extension of the same unsuccessful enforcement-heavy practices that have been pushed down and found ineffectual nationwide.
“It’s just doubling down on the solutions that are failing,” said D.C. Justice Lab head Patrice Sulton. Sulton, who helped reject the criminal code overhaul, claimed the measure seemed to be “ghost written” by U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves' office, which handles most felony prosecutions in Washington as a non-state.
The ACLU also called other plans outdated or unconstitutional. Police distrust would increase with planned body-worn camera reforms. "Such distrust undermines law enforcement's legitimacy and erodes cooperation between harmed communities and police," ACLU-D.C. Policy Counsel Melissa Wasser said
“Failed and ineffective ‘drug-free’ zones allow police to harass people and violate our rights, not prevent crime. Standing around can't be a criminal in the District