{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.budd.senate.gov/2025/09/18/budd-joins-senate-gop-colleagues-in-introducing-bill-to-eliminate-d-c-soft-on-crime-laws/", "Budd Joins Senate\u00a0GOP Colleagues in Introducing Bill to Eliminate D.C. Soft-On-Crime Laws", "2025-09-18", "2025", "2025-09", "Republican", "Senate", "NC", "Ted Budd", "B001305", "www.budd.senate.gov", "budd", "https://www.budd.senate.gov/category/news/press-releases/page/", "scraper", "Washington, D.C. \u2014 U.S. Senator Ted Budd (R-N.C.) joined Senators John Cornyn (R-Texas), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) in introducing the Just Incarceration of Criminal Elements (JUSTICE) in D.C. Act this week. The bill would eliminate two Washington, D.C. laws, the Incarceration Reduction Act (IRAA) and the Second Look Amendment Act(SLAA), which allows criminals to be improperly and prematurely released solely because they were under the age of 25 when they committed a crime. The D.C. laws disregard the severity of the crime or the length of their initial sentence, allowing even violent offenders convicted of murder to gain access to shortened sentences.\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.,\u201d said Senator 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\u201cThe Incarceration Reduction Act and Second 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,\u201d said Senator Cornyn. \u201cThe JUSTICE in D.C. Act puts 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\u201cRepealing these foolish, soft-on-crime laws is an important step in Making DC Safe Again,\u201d said Senator 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\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,\u201d said Senator 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\nRead the full bill text HERE.\n\nBACKGROUND\n\nThe IRAA of 2016, which was expanded by the D.C. 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 also 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.\n\nThe Just Incarceration of Criminal Elements (JUSTICE) in D.C. Act would:\n\n\u2022 Eliminates the Incarceration Reduction Act and Second Look Amendment Act, to ensure that criminals are not improperly and prematurely released solely because they happened to be under the age of 25 when they committed a crime, including robbery or murder.\n\n\u2022 Avoids amending the standard parole and probation processes for criminals in D.C., leaving open avenues for truly rehabilitated individuals to be released from prison in the normal course.\n\n\u2022 Changes the existing grant scheme provided in the IRAA and SLAA, which presently awards funds to released criminals, and would instead direct these funds to victims of violent crimes.\n\n###", 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.budd.senate.gov/2025/09/18/budd-joins-senate-gop-colleagues-in-introducing-bill-to-eliminate-d-c-soft-on-crime-laws/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.28986407071352, "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"}