AP: Biden will not stop override of DC crime laws

[Anonymous]

I do wonder how this guy is considered a “reporter” instead of an editorialist.
https://twitter.com/maustermuhle/status/1631400757068017665

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I do wonder how this guy is considered a “reporter” instead of an editorialist.
https://twitter.com/maustermuhle/status/1631400757068017665

Martin is nothing more than Charles Allen's stenographer these days. Go through his coverage of Allen/Nadeau/Janeese and compare it with his coverage of Bowser/Mendo/Pinto/McDuffie. Every statement from the former group is presented as gospel and unchallenged. Every statement from the latter group has 3-4 "expert" voices denouncing it.

A complete joke. He's getting roasted on social media today, and has been for a few months now because of his terrible reporting. Good. Go back to Switzerland and cry.

[Anonymous]

Good. This crime is moving into MoCo. I hope the MoCo council pays attention to this.

[Anonymous]

For what it's worth, the code revision could have led to longer sentences in a lot of cases, because it permits stacking charges and adds new gun crimes -- so a carjacking with a gun could have meant 30 years in prison rather than the maximum of 18, even though 18 is less than the current max of 21.

Doesn't matter for now, obviously.

But there really are some outdated provisions in the current criminal code that the Council should address, working with the mayor and the AG's office, and it'd be good if they could figure out a way to message around that when they pass it again so Congress doesn't block it a second time. From hearing about it here and in the national news, you'd think the whole bill was just nothing but a sop to criminals, but it did also do a lot of useful things beyond that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I do wonder how this guy is considered a “reporter” instead of an editorialist.
https://twitter.com/maustermuhle/status/1631400757068017665

It is definitely hypocritical of Biden to say he supports Home Rule but also sign a federal law that overturns a local one, regardless of what you think of the substance of the crime bill. Don't think it's editorializing to point that out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know some will complain about DC Home Rule issues, but I do think the US Congress has a responsibility to protect citizens visiting from outside of DC to see the sights or to do a Capitol Hill visit. A safe environment is more important than woke progressive politics in Capitol city.

+1 Exactly--thank you!!

Explain the correlation between an updated criminal code that goes into place in three years and tourist safety. I'm very curious

Does there need to be a correlation? The fact that the revisions would not take effect for several years does not make it any less stupid. If the DC Council wants to be treated like a serious institution, then they should act like one. Carjackings, street robberies, etc. are out of control around here.

I am not sure what all of the controversy is about. The fact that it doesn’t go into effect until 2025 means that the acts of Congress and Biden will have no practical effect on DC, because nothing will change tomorrow or next year. All the Council has to do is work collaboratively with the mayor and USAO to ensure that a balanced bill gets passed that reflects their concerns and there will be no problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I do wonder how this guy is considered a “reporter” instead of an editorialist.
https://twitter.com/maustermuhle/status/1631400757068017665

It is definitely hypocritical of Biden to say he supports Home Rule but also sign a federal law that overturns a local one, regardless of what you think of the substance of the crime bill. Don't think it's editorializing to point that out.

No, it isn’t.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I do wonder how this guy is considered a “reporter” instead of an editorialist.
https://twitter.com/maustermuhle/status/1631400757068017665

It is definitely hypocritical of Biden to say he supports Home Rule but also sign a federal law that overturns a local one, regardless of what you think of the substance of the crime bill. Don't think it's editorializing to point that out.

No, it isn’t.

How do you square supporting Home Rule (and even statehood, which he says he does) with letting Congress overturn local laws, though? It's certainly hypocritical. You can agree or not agree with the Council's vote or with Biden's decision on the crime bill, and you can decide that hypocrisy on Home Rule isn't as important as the specific policy around D.C. criminal laws, but I don't see how he avoids being considered at least mildly hypocritical here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know some will complain about DC Home Rule issues, but I do think the US Congress has a responsibility to protect citizens visiting from outside of DC to see the sights or to do a Capitol Hill visit. A safe environment is more important than woke progressive politics in Capitol city.

+1 Exactly--thank you!!

Explain the correlation between an updated criminal code that goes into place in three years and tourist safety. I'm very curious

Does there need to be a correlation? The fact that the revisions would not take effect for several years does not make it any less stupid. If the DC Council wants to be treated like a serious institution, then they should act like one. Carjackings, street robberies, etc. are out of control around here.

Please explain how these changes would lead to more car jackings, street robberies, etc. And please read through this before you give the tired excuses about "lowering sentences"

https://wamu.org/story/23/01/27/dc-criminal-code-overhaul-details/

The point of lowering the maximum sentence is to decrease leverage, which decreases the likelihood of punishment, which increases the rates. And I'm sorry, 4 years for carjacking is just too little. It's a serious, dangerous, invasive crime. Nobody "accidentally" or innocently carjacks such that they deserve a break. There is no nicer form of carjacking.

Also I'm not really an "optics" person, but the optics of focusing on decreasing carjacking sentences (even if you just believe it is on paper) when we are in the middle of a carjacking epidemic just looks clueless.

The current maximums are almost never actually what anyone is sentenced to, though. The point of lowering the maximum sentence was to make it so the law reflected what judges are actually sentencing defendants to. And anyway, most of the bill was doing things like defining the elements of crimes (which is helpful for prosecuting them!) and adding various degrees of crimes so the worst offenders could be treated more harshly.

No question that the supporters of the law blew the "optics" of it all, though.

[Anonymous]

Can Biden also now please fire Charles Allen and all the other left-wing dingbats on the DC Council?

[Anonymous]

If there was a secret poll I bet most DC residents would be against this stupid crime bill. Seriously, who thinks the city's #1 priority is to go easier on rapists and carjackers right now?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If there was a secret poll I bet most DC residents would be against this stupid crime bill. Seriously, who thinks the city's #1 priority is to go easier on rapists and carjackers right now?

There is a reason DC residents were not given the opportunity to vote on this bill.

[Anonymous]

This is a big boost for the right wing in DC!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know some will complain about DC Home Rule issues, but I do think the US Congress has a responsibility to protect citizens visiting from outside of DC to see the sights or to do a Capitol Hill visit. A safe environment is more important than woke progressive politics in Capitol city.

+1 Exactly--thank you!!

Explain the correlation between an updated criminal code that goes into place in three years and tourist safety. I'm very curious

Does there need to be a correlation? The fact that the revisions would not take effect for several years does not make it any less stupid. If the DC Council wants to be treated like a serious institution, then they should act like one. Carjackings, street robberies, etc. are out of control around here.

Please explain how these changes would lead to more car jackings, street robberies, etc. And please read through this before you give the tired excuses about "lowering sentences"

https://wamu.org/story/23/01/27/dc-criminal-code-overhaul-details/

I'm a communications person. This is where policy types and lawyers fumble. They are all about nuance while completely missing the big picture. There was no good way to sell this bill to the public that wasn't disingenuous and out of sync with the larger context of the crime surge we've all been experiencing.

The point of lowering the maximum sentence is to decrease leverage, which decreases the likelihood of punishment, which increases the rates. And I'm sorry, 4 years for carjacking is just too little. It's a serious, dangerous, invasive crime. Nobody "accidentally" or innocently carjacks such that they deserve a break. There is no nicer form of carjacking.

Also I'm not really an "optics" person, but the optics of focusing on decreasing carjacking sentences (even if you just believe it is on paper) when we are in the middle of a carjacking epidemic just looks clueless.

The current maximums are almost never actually what anyone is sentenced to, though. The point of lowering the maximum sentence was to make it so the law reflected what judges are actually sentencing defendants to. And anyway, most of the bill was doing things like defining the elements of crimes (which is helpful for prosecuting them!) and adding various degrees of crimes so the worst offenders could be treated more harshly.

No question that the supporters of the law blew the "optics" of it all, though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If there was a secret poll I bet most DC residents would be against this stupid crime bill. Seriously, who thinks the city's #1 priority is to go easier on rapists and carjackers right now?

[b]

Good idea, but you only get to vote in it if you can mention 3 things the bill does that have nothing to do with penalties. So many people have no idea what the bill actually did, and now we are stuck with an outdated code that has some serious gaps in liability and some too-low penalties.

I hope you are never charged with an offense and neither your lawyer, the judge, nor the prosecutor know what the government needs to prove in order to convict you. You will get sentenced to a penalty that hasn't been updated in decades, and since there is no parole in the District you will serve 85% of your sentence. You will sit in jail/prison, in some faraway location, potentially while waiting for the appellate court to figure out the elements of the offense and any defenses.

The bill spelled this all out, and now it's done. Gone.

if you are mad about crime, ask why MPD brings so many cases that can't be prosecuted. Or the prosecutors don't want to prosecute. That's not on the criminal code.