{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.blackburn.senate.gov/2025/9/crime/blackburn-senate-gop-colleagues-introduce-bill-to-eliminate-d-c-soft-on-crime-laws", "Blackburn, Senate GOP Colleagues Introduce Bill to Eliminate D.C. Soft-On-Crime Laws", "2025-09-16", "2025", "2025-09", "Republican", "Senate", "TN", "Marsha Blackburn", "B001243", "www.blackburn.senate.gov", "blackburn", "https://www.blackburn.senate.gov/news/cc8c80c1-d564-4bbb-93a4-f1d772346ae0", "scraper", "WASHINGTON\u2013 U.S. Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Ted Budd (R-N.C.), Lindsey Graham(R-S.C.) today introduced theJust Incarceration of Criminal Elements (JUSTICE) in D.C. Act, which would eliminate two Washington, D.C. laws \u2013 theIncarceration Reduction Actand theSecond Look Amendment Act\u2013 that have allowed criminals to be improperly and prematurely released solely because they were under the age of 25 when they committed a crime, including murder, regardless of the severity of the crime or the length of their initial sentence:\n\n\u201cWashington, D.C.\u2019s soft-on-crime policies have empowered violent criminals to become repeat offenders\u2014allowing them prematurely back onto the street simply because they are under the age of 25,\u201dsaid Sen. Blackburn. \u201cOur JUSTICE in D.C. Act would help restore law and order by getting rid of two reckless D.C. laws so that criminals are not improperly and prematurely released.\u201d\n\n\u201cTheIncarceration Reduction Act andSecond Look Amendment Act exemplify the mindless policies of D.C.\u2019s progressive city council that have incentivized crime in our nation\u2019s capital for far too long,\u201dsaid Sen. Cornyn. \u201cTheJUSTICE in D.C. Actputs common sense back at the forefront of D.C.\u2019s justice system by ensuring no offender receives a shortened sentence just because they committed a crime \u2013 including murder \u2013 before the age of 25. U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro has called for these ridiculous laws to be eliminated, and I couldn\u2019t agree more.\u201d\n\n\u201cOur country has endured far too many horrific acts of violence because of weak sentencing and the premature release of dangerous criminals in Democrat-run cities like Washington, D.C.,\u201dsaid Sen. Budd.\u201cMy home state of North Carolina has suffered as well\u2014just last month, a young Ukrainian refugee in Charlotte was brutally murdered by a repeat offender with fourteen prior arrests. These \u2018criminal reform\u2019 experiments have delivered neither safety, justice, nor rehabilitation. It is long past time to put a stop to them. I am proud to stand with Senator Cornyn in creating strict standards to prevent judges from releasing violent offenders onto the streets of D.C.\u201d\n\n\u201cRepealing these foolish, soft-on-crime laws is an important step in Making DC Safe Again,\u201dsaid Sen. Graham.\u201cOur work on this legislation would ensure that violent criminals are not set free early solely based on age. This reckless practice needs to end now.\u201d\n\nBACKGROUND\n\nTheDistrict of Columbia Incarceration Reduction Amendment Act (IRAA) of 2016, which was expanded by the D.C.Second Look Amendment Act (SLAA) in 2021, permits a defendant who has been convicted of committing any crime before the age of 25 to move for a sentence reduction after serving only 15 years in prison, regardless of how long their original sentence of incarceration is. It also expressly provides the factors that a judge must rely on in determining whether to release an inmate, and these factors purposely do not include the \u201cnature of the offense.\u201d This is not only contrary to federal sentencing law, but prevents a judge entertaining a release motion from a violent felon from being able to properly weigh the seriousness of the crime, tilting the scales toward release.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:10:29Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.blackburn.senate.gov/2025/9/crime/blackburn-senate-gop-colleagues-introduce-bill-to-eliminate-d-c-soft-on-crime-laws"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.3693280052393675, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}