Norton Introduces Bill to Give D.C. Home-Rule Authority to Prosecute Major Local Crimes
WASHINGTON, DC -- Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today re-introduced a bill, the District of Columbia District Attorney Establishment Act of 2013, to remove the authority of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia, a federal entity, to prosecute major D.C. criminal laws and to give that authority to a local elected district attorney, the Office of the District Attorney for the District of Columbia. The bill comports with a November 2002 referendum in which 82 percent of D.C. voters approved a locally elected district attorney. The bill is also in keeping with another but unrelated referendum approved by D.C. voters in 2010 creating an elected Attorney General, whose duties do not include prosecuting major local crimes. Both referendums express the determination of D.C. residents to achieve statehood, even if compelled to proceed incrementally.
Under the Home Rule Act, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia is responsible for prosecuting major local crimes. "The bill is another in my series of bills to give D.C. full democracy," Norton said. "Public safety is the most basic function of a local government, and D.C., like every other state and local government, should have the authority to prosecute local crimes. The bill is a win-win for the District and the federal government. The U.S. attorney of the nation's capital should be focusing on serious federal matters, especially post-9/11, while leaving local criminal matters to a local district attorney." Norton said the majority of the workload of the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia consists of local criminal cases, making the U.S. attorney here more of a district attorney than a U.S. attorney.
Published: February 8, 2013