The D.C. Council’s judiciary committee voted Monday to advance a number of bills, including measures to permanently ban ghost guns, strengthen D.C.’s “red flag” law, clarify how citizen initiative and referenda can get on the ballot, and give more young offenders the chance to petition for early release from prison.

Action on the half-dozen bills comes ahead of the council’s final legislative sessions of the year next month, after which measures that haven’t been passed are sent to the proverbial garbage can. 

Among the highest profile bills approved by the committee on Monday was the Second Look Amendment Act, which would allow convicted felons who committed a violent crime before they turned 25 to petition for early release after they have served 15 years in prison. 

The bill would build on existing law known as the Incarceration Reduction Amendment Act, or IRAA, which targets incarcerated felons who committed crimes before they turned 18. Proponents have argued that IRAA and the Second Look Amendment Act recognize that young offenders who have taken steps to rehabilitate themselves should be given a chance at a reduced prison sentence. 

But the bill, which was first introduced in early 2019, has drawn considerable opposition from the U.S. Attorney for D.C., whose office prosecutes violent crime in the city. And in a rare move last week, the Metropolitan Police Department came out against the bill, saying it would “provide for the early release of hundreds of violent gun offenders.”

Speaking Monday, Ward 6 Councilmember Charles Allen — who chairs the judiciary committee — pushed back on that argument, saying that 55 people have been granted reduced sentences under IRAA over the last three years, and none have reoffended. 

The measure ultimately cleared the committee, though not without a note of concern from Ward 3 Councilmember Mary Cheh, who said she wanted input from victims and their families given great weight when judges decide on whether to reduce a sentence.

“It doesn’t strike the right moral balance,” Cheh said of the bill. “I do believe in rehabilitation and redemption, but with laws like this we have to give due attention to the victim and the victim’s families.”

Allen responded that the bill does give victims’ statements “the greatest weight” among the factors that judges can consider when deciding on a sentence reduction. Still, Cheh ultimately voted against the omnibus safety bill that includes the Second Look Amendment Act, and indicated she would raise the point during a full council debate in December.

The legislation also included measures to make permanent emergency and temporary provisions banning the possession of ghost guns – those without a serial number, made using a 3D printer, or are otherwise considered untraceable – as well as emergency and temporary amendments to the District’s “red flag” law. The red flag law allows for the temporary seizure of a firearm when a judge finds someone is at high risk of using it to hurt themselves or others.

Another bill the committee advanced seeks to clarify the city’s initiative and referendum process, under which residents can put a measure on the ballot themselves or call a referendum on bills passed by the council. 

The bill would require that initiatives and referenda be written in “plain language” that voters can understand, a direct response to concerns raised with Initiative 77, a tipped-wage ballot measure approved by voters in 2018 and then repealed by the council later that same year. The bill would also make permanent the use of vote centers in lieu of traditional polling places for elections, and require that a polling place be established at the D.C. Jail so that inmates can vote.

The other bills passed by the committee – all unanimously – included the Sanctuary Values Amendment Act of 2020, fortifying D.C.’s status as a sanctuary city, which makes permanent temporary legislation Allen previously introduced, as well as the Intrafamily Offenses and Anti-Stalking Orders Amendment Act of 2020.

The anti-stalking bill alters and modernizes the city’s laws granting civil protection orders involving family or romantic partners, and creates new anti-stalking orders, among other steps.

All six measures are slated to head to the full council next month, where they need to be approved in two different rounds of votes before they become law.