SJP and Thrive Under 25 Coalition Testify Against the Safer Stronger Amendment Act 06.27.23
On June 27, 2023, the DC Council held a public hearing on crime legislation (Safer Stronger Amendment Act of 2023, “SSDC”) proposed by Mayor Bowser that had 165 witnesses signed up to testify. While the bill sets forth myriad proposals to address public safety in the District, SJP and our coalition members (Thrive Under 25 and Youth Justice Project) are most concerned with the harmful impact of the bill’s provisions relating to the Incarceration Reduction Amendment Act (“IRAA”) and the juvenile detention standard. Changes to these two provisions will result in increased mass incarceration, keeping many who are eligible for release behind bars and widening the net of children eligible for incarceration.
IRAA was passed in 2017 to allow people who were incarcerated for crimes committed before they were under the age of 18 a chance to show the Court that they are rehabilitated, not dangerous, and ready to return home to their communities. In 2020, relying on brain science, the Second Look Amendment Act passed and expanded IRAA to include people who were under the age of 25 at the time of their offense. SSDC ignores the history of systemic racism in the District, brain science, and that the overwhelming majority of the approximately 150 people who have been released under IRAA and are serving their communities and living peacefully with their loved ones. The IRAA process is deliberative and equitable, and SSDC would change that.
Further, SSDC would allow judges to jail children who are not a risk to public safety by expanding pre-trial detention as a means to “protect the child” and to allow for detention for offenses that do not involve a gun or any physical injury. However, research has shown that detaining children will not and does not reduce reoffending and that more severe punishment does not prevent crime. Instead, the opposite is true, jailing children who present a low risk to public safety markedly increases the likelihood that these children will recidivate upon release. Instead, this will lead to increased harm to our children while making us less safe.
The SJP team, Thrive Under 25 Coalition members and leadership, Youth Justice Project coalition, and many of our partners showed up at the hearing to testify in opposition of this bill. The room was filled with advocates, IRAA recipients, and other community members wearing “Protect Second Look; Care not Cages” shirts. There were many powerful testimonies made throughout the day, including a few that are listed here.
“There are so many men and women like me who are still incarcerated and deserve the same opportunities that I had… if this bill is passed and IRAA is changed, it will steal the hope from those who have yet to get the second chance at life they so deserve.” – Thrive Under 25 Co-Chair, Council for Court Excellence Fellow, and IRAA Recipient, Gene Downing
“Black kids are not super predators, they are not animals, they are our children.” – Open City Advocates Staff Attorney, Rondell Jordan.
It is clear that witnesses at the hearing and many other community members do not support passing this bill as it does not make DC safer, but instead harms it. The bill fails to provide any proactive measures to address the root causes of violence but instead relies on incarceration as a tool to prevent future crime. SJP will continue our advocacy efforts in opposition of this bill in alliance with coalition partners and community members.
