A District of Columbia law that is so radical that even Democrat Mayor Muriel Bowser tried to veto it came up for a vote before the House of Representatives last week. The Republican majority voted down the law, in support of the mayor and against the D.C. Council.
But Alaska’s Mary Peltola voted to retain the crooks-run-free ordinance.
Read details of the House resolution against the D.C. Council’s crime-spree bill at this link.
Many law enforcement leaders are concerned because D.C., already a crime-ridden city, now has reduced maximum sentences for some crimes and allows nearly all misdemeanors to go to jury trials, rather than to judges.
The House, Senate, and President have the authority to override local legislation in D.C., but it takes both legislative branches and the executive branch to reverse a law.
Peltola was campaigning in Ketchikan Saturday, far from the problems of the nation’s capital, where violence is rampant. On Friday, she will be in Juneau, where she will give her first address to a joint session of the Legislature.
Peltola also voted to allow illegal aliens to vote in D.C., another measure passed by the local D.C. Council.
Both attempts to overturn the radical D.C. local laws were approved by the Republican-led House, but are not likely to pass the Senate, where Democrats have a slim majority. If the bills did make it to President Joe Biden’s desk, he would probably veto them.
On House Resolution 26, which would deny the D.C. Council the ability to reduce sentences for major crimes, the House voted 250-173, with Peltola voting “Nay” with Reps. Nancy Pelosi, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and the Squad.
The D.C. Council, in passing the Revised Criminal Code Act in November, reduced the maximum penalties for offenses such as burglaries, carjackings and robberies. Law enforcement leaders had expressed concern that it could burden the court system and would send the wrong message to residents at a time when the city is struggling with gun violence. Mayor Bowser vetoed the act on Jan. 4, and the Council overrode the veto quickly.
Already in 2023, homicide is up 20% over 2022, according to Metropolitan Police statistics. Sexual abuse is up 100% over last year, and motor vehicle theft is up 95%. All crime categories are now up 22% in Washington, D.C.
“This bill does not make us safer,” Bowser wrote to the D.C. Council, when she announced her veto. Mayor Bowser last week proposed some amendments to the act, in response to significant outcry from the public. Bowser’s statement is here.
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