The U.S. House passed a disapproval resolution on April 19 to block the District of Columbia’s Comprehensive Policing and Justice Reform Amendment Act of 2022.
The vote was 229–189. Fourteen Democrats joined all 215 Republicans in voting for the resolution. The resolution is unlikely to advance in the Democratic-led Senate.
The law—which the city council passed in December 2022—also approves the use of police body camera footage and requires, with a couple of exceptions, the mayor to release such footage with the names of the officers behind the footage where “officers [were] directly involved in the officer-involved death or serious use of force.”
However, the mayor can’t release footage if the next of kin of an officer-involved death or “the individual against whom the serious use of force was used, or if the individual is a minor or unable to consent, the individual’s next of kin” doesn’t agree to its release.
Additionally, the act authorizes District of Columbia Housing Authority Police Department (DCHAPD) members “to make arrests, carry a firearm, and perform other functions normally reserved to members of the Metropolitan Police Department.”
It also allows personnel of D.C.’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) “to carry a firearm, make warrantless arrests for felony violations of the law, and serve as affiants for search warrants.” The law subjects DCHA and OIG to the same oversight and process that is used in dealing with complaints against MPD officers.
The act would establish a Police Complaints Board consisting of nine members, including a representative from one of D.C.’s eight wards and one at-large member. The members are appointed by the mayor and require confirmation by the D.C. Council, which has 90 days to act on the nomination.
If there is no vote on the nominee within that timeframe, then the appointee is rejected. The act would strip the mayor’s power to appoint the board’s chairperson, giving it to the board. However, the mayor can remove a board member for cause.
The policing and justice overhaul measure has been criticized by Republicans for being harsh on law enforcement.
Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.), who introduced the disapproval resolution, called D.C.’s pending law an “anti-police measure.”
“D.C.’s Comprehensive Policing and Justice Reform Amendment Act of 2022 would, among other things, make it easier to fire officers for misconduct; prohibit the hiring of officers with prior misconduct; require the release of the names and body-worn camera recordings of officers directly involved in an officer-involved death or serious use of force; strengthen civilian oversight of police; establish a public database of sustained allegations of officer misconduct; make officer disciplinary records subject to release under the D.C. Freedom of Information Act and prohibit chokeholds and asphyxiating restraints.”
While the bill passed the Republican-controlled House, it’s unlikely to pass the Democrat-controlled Senate. The White House has said that President Joe Biden would veto the resolution if it came to his desk.
“While President Biden does not support every provision of the Comprehensive Policing and Justice Reform Amendment Act of 2022, he will not support congressional Republicans’ efforts to overturn commonsense police reforms such as: banning chokeholds; limiting use of force and deadly force; improving access to body-worn camera recordings; and requiring officer training on de-escalation and use of force,” it stated. “Congress should respect the District of Columbia’s right to pass measures that improve public safety and public trust.”
The conundrum also put Biden on the spot amid Republican criticisms of his fellow Democrats being soft on crime. Bowser vetoed the bill—only for the city council to override her veto. The resolution was the first time in decades that Congress voted to override a D.C. bill.
Under the code, the mandatory minimum penalty for first-degree murder would have remained 24 years in prison but the maximum would have been reduced from life behind bars to 51 years in prison. The penalty for first-degree murder would be 57 years if the defendant was already charged with a crime committed murder while on release. All other mandatory minimum sentences would have been done away with under the code.
The act would allow juries to decide misdemeanor cases.