Statement by the Council for Court Excellence on Federal Executed and Threatened Actions

August 12, 2025 - Over the past week, the President and other federal officials have made statements and taken actions which are unnecessary and contrary to the values and autonomy of the District of Columbia. Despite the assertions that these changes are meant to improve the city and make its residents safer, we at the Council for Court Excellence (CCE) are concerned that these proposals and actions may harm rather than help District residents. Increasing community safety is not an overnight endeavor, but rather a long-term strategy that includes an equitable and trusted legal system and a plan to address underlying causes, such as poverty and lack of economic opportunity, mental health and substance use disorders, and insufficient supports and services that, if consistently available, would help District children successfully transition to adulthood and help build an even stronger D.C.

Among the issues recently raised by federal officials, CCE is particularly concerned with calls for legislation forcing a system of money bail onto the District; reducing the age at which children can be charged as adults; dismantling the Youth Rehabilitation and Second Look Amendment Acts; and rolling back record-sealing and expungement laws. CCE has studied and supported these evidence-based policies and has regularly opposed overly broad and ineffective policies that increase the number of people housed in our jail and youth facilities and criminalize poverty and behavioral health disorders. By reducing people’s paths to success, the District could suffer due to increased reliance on social services and the justice system and decreased contributions that justice-involved individuals could have made to their communities and the local economy.

We call upon federal officials to carefully consider the data, evidence-based alternatives, and the perspectives of those people most likely to be directly impacted before moving forward on changes in law enforcement, legislation, and other policies. From our decades of work focused on D.C.’s legal systems, CCE knows that the impacts of these proposals will not be evenly felt; rather, D.C.’s criminal and youth justice systems predominantly impact Black and Brown Washingtonians, who are most likely to be victims of crime, arrested and detained, charged with crime, and harmed by chronic under-investments in their neighborhoods.  

Additionally, CCE consistently has called upon the federal executive and legislative branches to appoint judges to fill the many vacancies negatively impacting the operation of D.C. courts. While the President spoke about the problem of D.C.’s judicial vacancies and indicated a willingness to take action yesterday, CCE hopes he will continue his track record of nominating candidates who have been thoroughly vetted by the Judicial Nomination Commission – the process laid out in the Home Rule Act – and then focus his influence on encouraging the Senate to confirm these nominees.  

Finally, CCE is concerned with the federal executive branch taking control of a municipal police force and the deployment of additional military forces in a place that already has the highest per capita rate of law enforcement of any large U.S. city. CCE supports Home Rule for D.C. as a pillar of local accountability, and even a temporary rescission of that authority can open the door to abuse, insufficient oversight and accountability, and other harms, including any gains that could be made in police-community relations.  

In order to meet this moment and stay true to our values, CCE will be releasing a series of briefs in the coming weeks that will show policymakers that evidence-based and community-developed policies – sometimes called “smart on crime” policies – can and do work, and that punitive responses to issues like homelessness and illegal behavior, particularly at a time when crime rates are falling, are a waste of resources that could be spent on effective interventions. CCE welcomes opportunities to engage constructively with local and national policymakers on these issues in the coming weeks, as we continue to pursue our vision: a safe and thriving D.C. that has a trusted legal system that meets the needs of its people, protects their rights, and promotes dignity and justice for all.

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About the Council for Court Excellence. The Council for Court Excellence (CCE) is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization in the District of Columbia. For more than 40 years, CCE has been bringing people together to conduct research, educate, and advocate to make D.C.’s unique legal systems more just, equitable, and accountable to the community. ‍

Per CCE's policy, no judicial member or nominee for the judiciary participated in the formulation or approval of this statement. This statement does not reflect the specific views of or endorsement by any current or former judicial member of CCE.