The D.C. Council unanimously approved the Second Look Amendment Act on Tuesday. The council will vote on the bill a second time on Dec. 15 before it is sent to Mayor Muriel Bowser.

Suzannah Hoover / DCist/WAMU

Update: The D.C. Council on Tuesday granted final approval to legislation that will allow some incarcerated residents convicted of violent crimes to petition for early release, despite opposition from Mayor Muriel Bowser and local law enforcement. 

An omnibus public safety bill, which includes the controversial Second Look Amendment Act, passed the council 12-1 on a second and final reading, with outgoing Ward 4 Councilmember Brandon Todd the lone dissenter.

The act will allow anyone who committed a violent crime before they turned 25 to petition a judge for early release, provided they have served 15 years of their sentence. Under current law, only those who committed their crimes before they turned 18 are able to request a change in their prison sentence.

During Tuesday’s meeting, Ward 3 Councilmember Mary Cheh re-introduced the same two amendments that failed during the Dec. 1 legislative session — and both amendments failed for a second time. One proposed amendment would require that a judge give a victim or their family “substantial” weight when considering a sentence change, adjusting the language of the original bill which required that a judge only “consider” the victim’s statement. The second amendment proposed that a judge consider “the nature of the underlying offense” when deciding whether to shorten a sentence.

Ahead of the council’s final legislative meeting, both Bowser and outgoing D.C. Police Chief Peter Newsham voiced their disapproval of the measure. During a press conference on Monday, Bowser said she supported Cheh’s amendments, and advocated for an explicit emphasis on victim’s statements when considering resentencing. 

“I regret that it doesn’t raise up the victims voices as expressly as it could have, as was suggested by Councilmember Cheh,” Bowser said. “I think there’s a lot of things being done at the end of the council period as it relates to public safety that will warrant our continued attention to see if they are measures that are going to make our city safer.” 

Newsham, whose department has publicly decried the bill as a threat to public safety (and taken aim at one of the bill’s authors, Ward 6 Councilmember Charles Allen), said he was “not entirely convinced” that the voices of victims were considered in the council’s legislation. 

“When I speak to some of these folks [victims] now, they’re unaware that this is even going on,” Newsham said. “I can disagree, respectfully disagree, with the passage of this legislation, and I think I will continue to disagree with it, but at the end of the day, as a law enforcement officer in the District of Columbia I’ll have to abide by it. 

Bowser did not say whether she would veto the bill, but said she will “look closely” at the Second Look Act and the various other public safety measures included in the omnibus bill. 

Original: The D.C. Council unanimously voted to approve an omnibus criminal justice reform bill on Tuesday, marking another step toward possible early release for some incarcerated D.C. residents.

The council granted initial approval of 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 serve 15 years in prison. The legislation builds on the existing Incarceration Reduction Amendment Act, or IRAA, which passed in 2016 and applies to incarcerated felons who committed crimes before they turned 18.

Tuesday’s vote came during the first of two legislative meetings this month — the council’s last chance to push through any bills before the session ends and any outstanding bills are tossed out.

Since its introduction by Ward 6 Councilmember and chair of the Judiciary Committee Charles Allen in early 2019, the legislation has drawn harsh criticism from prosecutors and local law enforcement officials. The U.S. Attorney for D.C. has strongly opposed the measure, and the Metropolitan Police Department claimed the bill would “provide for the early release of hundreds of violent gun offenders” in a tweet on its official account. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s office supported the legislation at the time.

The council’s Judiciary Committee voted to advance the bill in late November, with Ward 3 Councilmember Mary Cheh the lone ‘no’ vote. She claimed the legislation did not “strike the right moral balance” and advocated for input from victims and victims’ families when reducing sentences.

Ahead of Tuesday’s vote, Cheh introduced two amendments to the bill, both of which failed during the legislative meeting. The first proposed requiring a judge to give a victim or their family “substantial” weight when considering a sentence change, adjusting the language of the original bill which required that a judge only “consider” the victim’s statement. The second amendment proposed that a judge consider “the nature of the underlying offense” when shortening a sentence.

“It’s inevitably about the inmate — rehabilitation, that’s the focus — but it’s inevitably about also the victim, and the victim’s family, and giving agency to the victim and acknowledgment to the victim about the harms that were caused,” Cheh said.

During the meeting, Allen, Ward 5 Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie (the author of the IRAA), and several other members voiced their strong support of the bill, highlighting the racial disparities in sentencing and the impacts of incarceration on D.C.’s Black community. They also pushed back against Cheh’s concerns, pointing out the focus of the bill is on rehabilitation and that many factors are considered by the judge when resentencing.

“We’re not traveling back in time to relitigate the guilt of an individual for the offense they committed,” Allen said, “They committed it. They’re guilty. That part’s not in dispute. What the Second Look Act is trying to look at is the sentencing and whether an individual is a risk to public safety or not.”

Allen pointed to the 55 people who have been granted reduced sentences under IRAA over the last three years, saying none of them have reoffended.

Councilmember Trayon White recounted a recent hearing he attended in which a man arrested at 16, now 46, relied on testimony to determine his eligibility for early release. He questioned whether those factors need to be taken into account when determining eligibility.

“The issue at hand is: has that person paid their debt to society and is that person prepared to come home to be an asset to the community?” White said.

Champions of the bill took to Twitter to voice their support and some even called out Cheh’s proposed amendments.

Arguments against the legislation claim that it would reintroduce violent offenders onto city streets earlier than expected and put the public at risk. The Washington Post Editorial Board opposed the bill introduced by Councilmember Allen in 2019, claiming it would throw transparency and truth in sentencing out the window and “allow many of the city’s most violent offenders to seek release from prison in their 30s, regardless of their original sentences.”

Patrice Sulton, the executive director of D.C. Justice Lab, an organization that advocates for and studies criminal justice reform in the city, applauded the council’s move on Tuesday. In a statement, Sulton pushed back against law enforcement officials’ characterization of the bill as a threat to public safety.

“By standing together, the Council sent a clear message that race-baiting and fear-mongering will not carry the day,” Sulton said. “Washingtonians have seen through those ‘Willie Horton’ tactics and rejected them outright.”

The legislation also includes measures to enact temporary and permanent bans on possession of “ghost guns” — firearms that are constructed in a way or lack a serial number thus making them untraceable.

The bill will need a final reading and approval from the council by Dec. 15, before being sent to D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser.

This story was updated to include a statement from D.C. Justice Lab Executive Director Patrice Sulton. 

Christian Zapata contributed reporting

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