Councilmember Pinto introduces omnibus public safety legislation to increase accountability for offenders and support to victims

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Contact: Zoe Ades, Communications Director  

zades@dccouncil.gov

COUNCILMEMBER PINTO INTRODUCES OMNIBUS PUBLIC SAFETY LEGISLATION TO INCREASE ACCOUNTABILITY FOR OFFENDERS AND SUPPORT TO VICTIMS

Today, Councilmember Brooke Pinto introduced an omnibus legislative package to address gaps in our legal system, ensure accountability for offenders, support victims, and keep guns out of the hands of people who pose a threat to the community. The Accountability and Victim Protection Amendment Act of 2023, developed in collaboration with the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia (USAO), includes provisions to ensure prosecutors have the tools they need to hold offenders accountable, enhanced protections for children and senior citizens, and supports to victims of sexual abuse and domestic violence.

Since assuming the role of Chairwoman of the Committee on the Judiciary and Public Safety, Councilmember Pinto has focused on identifying gaps in our legal system that enable crime and violence to proliferate. This bill is one result of those efforts and will close a number of those gaps, ensuring that perpetrators can be held accountable and victims can receive the protections and justice they deserve. This legislation is the product of a collaboration with the USAO, the entity responsible for prosecuting the vast majority of crimes by adult offenders. The process for developing this bill reflects Councilmember Pinto’s commitment to productive partnership and problem-solving with public safety partners in the District. The Accountability and Victim Protection Amendment Act is the latest example of Councilmember Pinto’s commitment to ensuring accountability and supporting victims to end cycles of violence.  

“The unacceptable levels of crime and violence in our city demand that we implement actionable, immediate solutions to ensure accountability and support victims,” said Councilmember Pinto. “By filling gaps in our laws to ensure accountability and advancing policies that will better protect and meet the needs of victims, this legislation will address our urgent public safety challenges as well as interrupt cycles of violence – making us safer today and in the future. Sustainable solutions require collaboration with our local and federal partners and I am grateful to US Attorney Graves for his partnership in developing these common-sense solutions.”

“We appreciate Councilmember Pinto’s leadership in introducing this legislation, which will provide additional tools to protect some of the most vulnerable members of our community and hold accountable those who harm them,” said U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves. “This office is committed to aggressively prosecuting all forms of violence, including sexual assault and domestic violence, and to protecting our community from these acts of violence.”

The Accountability and Victim Protection Amendment Act of 2023 will:  

• Ensure accountability for offenders by

• Eliminating or extending the length of statutes of limitations for certain serious crimes, such as attempts to commit murder or sexual abuse;
• Making misdemeanor arrest warrants extraditable outside the District;

• Clarifying that GPS records in the possession of the Pretrial Services Agency (PSA) can be admissible to prove a defendant’s guilt in a criminal case or other judicial proceeding.

• Enhance protections for senior citizens by

• Adding “assault with significant bodily injury” to a list of offenses that qualify for sentencing enhancements when committed against senior citizens.

• Protect victims of sexual abuse and domestic violence by

• Prohibiting individuals who have been convicted of stalking from possessing a firearm;

• Creating a standalone felony offense of strangulation;
• Allowing for testing of defendants charged with sexual assault for HIV in order to provide victims with information about their attacker’s HIV status more quickly;
• Creating new evidentiary rules to give courts discretion to admit evidence of previous similar crimes in sexual abuse and child sexual abuse cases;
• Establishing progressive sentencing for serial misdemeanor sex offenders;
• Closing a loophole in the prohibition on non-consensual dissemination of sexual images;

• Directing courts to expedite cases involving a child victim;  
• Creating enhanced penalties for domestic violence crimes committed in the presence of a child;
• Creating additional protections for 12-year-old victims of sexual abuse;
• Extending liability for certain sexual offenses to contractors of organizations.

The legislation is co-introduced by Councilmembers Zachary Parker and Anita Bonds.