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[quote=Anonymous][quote=jsteele][quote=Anonymous][quote=jsteele]I am afraid that you are the one suffering from cognitive dissonance. The Members of the Council were popularly elected. Biden is not acting as the voice of the people, but as an unrepresentative autocrat overturning the will of the people. If Charles Allen is so unpopular, why didn't anyone even bother to run against him? To hear people like you tell it, that should have been the easiest seat to flip in the District.

There is plenty of blame to go around when it comes to the the crime situation in DC. But, thinking that it hinges on a law that doesn't even take effect until two years from now is absurd. The current situation is occurring under the vary laws you folks are so eager to protect.
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As a lifelong resident who has witnessed first hand so many episodes of crime in my neighborhood (and packages and bikes stolen) in over it. I’m over the second look act, I’m over the youth rehab act, I’m over Charles Allen laying blame at feet of city services for “not cleaning up the leaves in time” so kids wouldn’t light them on fire.I’m tired of violent teens knowing they will simply face no consequences for stealing cars. I’m tired of speeders never losing their licenses now because tickets are “oppression”. You make your progressives bonafides very clear in many posts. I actually agree with many of them, especially your views on gender and transgender rights etc. However, it’s clear the progressive justice reform, however hip it is, is tantamount to leniency with regard to violent crime. Violence interruptors that cost millions, but for which studies show no efficacy, or this push for restorative justice for someone physically abused is leading to a culture that encourages more violence.

I get that we are in this era of re-examining criminal justice, and there have been horrendous tales of police violence, but truly the council would have basically allowed for no criminal penalties with its push for jury trials for misdeamonrs. You think our overburdened court system can see all these cases? Even with increased staff? No, basically none of these crimes would be anything other than dismissed or not prosecuted.

We have a growing violence problem. We need to be tough on crime. I’m sorry if the arrest stats are bad. Just arrest and prosecute criminals. We won’t. We will have a council that will double down. And we will have progressive DA’s and a system that just continues to look the other way, not prosecute, but keeps yapping endlessly that we need to “study then root causes of crime” in perpetuity.[/quote]

Again, there is plenty of blame to go around for the rise in crime. "Just arrest and prosecute criminals" is easy to say and, if it were really that easy, everyone would do it. But, it is is not that easy. You worry about expanding jury trials. Never mind that almost every state has far more expansive rights to jury trials, this wouldn't even start taking effect until 2025 and then would be phased in over 5 years. The bill requires the impact of each phase to be analyzed before proceeding to the next. Therefore, if negative consequences such as you predict arose, the transition could be halted. Your position is just one more example of preferring rule by unrepresentative Federal officials — in this case Federally-appointed judges in whose selection DC residents have no say — over local residents.

Now, House Republicans have a green light to interfere in DC in any way they wish because Democrats have shown that they don't have the backbone to stand up for DC and those like you welcome their intervention. [/quote]

I’ve seen what our local politicians implement, as I mentioned in my previous post (YRA, second look, violence “interruptors”) and these measures don’t work and cost a lot in both a human and monetary toll on local families. They are generally unpopular, though as a previous poster  mentioned many people feel a sense of being beaten into submission by vocal progressive neighbors and don’t want to upset anyone by vocalizing criticism.

The city has gotten better in my 50 years here. Only because of gentrification and development and that’s the truth. Now we are going the other way because of lenient criminal policy. Each “side” on the matter can provide studies to back up their claims of what criminal policy is best.

With regard to this bill. Biden was backed into a tight spot as republicans hammer him and liberals with soft on crime accusations. The council had a chance to split out two contentious pieces of the bill. They could have been more politically aware and astute, but chose not to be. Now the bill failed because Biden literally has to loon tough on crime. You know senate seats are being defended? No one needed this idiotic headache. It was so obvious they should have presented a reformed justice code minus the contentious pieces to update the 100 year old bill. Now they have nothing except egg on their face.

Sadly I agree with repubs in congress. I like safety. Crack down on crime. That’s it.[/quote]

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