Just practicing with the Flipbook – let me know what you think.
Click the arrow to turn the page…
The content published on this blog reflects journalistic commentary and personal opinion and is protected under the right to Freedom of Speech pursuant to the First Amendment of the United States Constitution (ratified in 1791).
Summary:
Providing for consideration of the bill (H.R. 4922) to limit youth offender status in the District of Columbia to individuals 18 years of age or younger, to direct the Attorney General of the District of Columbia to establish and operate a publicly accessible website containing updated statistics on juvenile crime in the District of Columbia, to amend the District of Columbia Home Rule Act to prohibit the Council of the District of Columbia from enacting changes to existing criminal liability sentences, and for other purposes;
providing for consideration of the bill (H.R. 5143) to establish standards for law enforcement officers in the District of Columbia to engage in vehicular pursuits of suspects, and for other purposes;
providing for consideration of the bill (H.R. 5140) to lower the age at which a minor may be tried as an adult for certain criminal offenses in the District of Columbia to 14 years of age;
providing for consideration of the bill (H.R. 5125) to amend the District of Columbia Home Rule Act to terminate the District of Columbia Judicial Nomination Commission, and for other purposes;
providing for consideration of the bill (H.R. 1047) to require the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to reform the interconnection queue process for the prioritization and approval of certain projects, and for other purposes;
providing for consideration of the bill (H.R. 3015) to reestablish the National Coal Council in the Department of Energy to provide advice and recommendations to the Secretary of Energy on matters related to coal and the coal industry, and for other purposes;
providing for consideration of the bill (H.R. 3062) to establish a more uniform, transparent, and modern process to authorize the construction, connection, operation, and maintenance of international border-crossing facilities for the import and export of oil and natural gas and the transmission of electricity; and for other purposes.
Overview
H.R. 4922
H.R. 4922 — also called the DC CRIMES Act of 2025 — was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives on 8 August 2025 and passed the House on 16 September 2025 by a vote of 240–179.
The bill focuses on criminal‑justice reforms specific to the District of Columbia.
Key Provisions
1. Youth Offender Status Reform
The bill amends the Youth Rehabilitation Act of 1985 to:
Reduce eligibility for youth‑offender status from “24 years of age or younger” to “under 18 years of age.”
Remove references to individuals aged 18–24 in D.C.’s strategic planning for facilities, treatment, and services.
Adjust community‑service requirements to apply only to individuals aged 15–18 instead of 15–24.
2. Mandatory Minimum Sentencing
The bill prohibits courts from issuing sentences below mandatory‑minimum terms for applicable offenses under the Youth Rehabilitation Act.
3. Public Juvenile‑Crime Statistics Website
The bill directs the Attorney General of the District of Columbia to create and maintain a publicly accessible website containing updated juvenile‑crime statistics, including:
4. Limits on D.C. Council Authority
The bill amends the District of Columbia Home Rule Act to prohibit the D.C. Council from reducing existing criminal‑liability sentences, effectively restricting local authority over sentencing reforms.
Legislative Status
Introduced: 8 August 2025
Passed House: 16 September 2025
Awaiting Senate action (per available search results)
H.R. 4922 represents a federal intervention into D.C.’s criminal‑justice policies, particularly concerning youth‑offender treatment and public transparency on juvenile crime.
The content published on this blog reflects journalistic commentary and personal opinion and is protected under the right to Freedom of Speech pursuant to the First Amendment of the United States Constitution (ratified in 1791).
Worry – I now remember when I was in elementary school K – 6th grade the only thing I worried about was getting a key to my apartment. For the life of me that key would not stay around my neck on that string or whatever it was called back then – it was used to tie a bow around out ponytail or on a braid.
I worried about my mother finding out I lost that key. I would go to the office, get a key, go to the that place around the corner that sold all kinds of stuff for a house. They had ladders, glue, paint, wallpaper and in the back, there was a man that had a machine that could make a copy of a key for .50 cents. Hmmm, where did I get that .50 cents from – I don’t remember. Anywho, I got my key – returned the office key and was safe to live another day.
From 7th to 12th grade my worries changed. Like I was worried that Russell would never come to realize we both were breathing the same air – and was he going to call at 6:00 like he said. I worried if my hair was ever going to look like the picture on the box – you black girls know what I’m talking about.
As I got holder my [worries] got more intense and I had less and less control on the outcome. Until one day I realized I had no control – what was I going to do. Someone introduced me to a GodBox. You can use any kind of box, shoe box, hat box, make a box – I used my jewelry box that I never thew away.
In the box you put things, wants, desires – whatever you need an answer to or fixed that is beyond your control. Leave it there, don’t keep checking – just trust that God checks every box.
In 1998 I put some notes in the box. One day in 2007 I realized that everything I had wrote on that little piece of paper had come to fruition.
I worry no more…
The content published on this blog reflects journalistic commentary and personal opinion and is protected under the right to Freedom of Speech pursuant to the First Amendment of the United States Constitution (ratified in 1791).
Good evening, family. Let me talk to you the way we talk to each other not in the language that floats over our heads like Charlie Brown’s teacher, but in the language that lands on MLK Blvd, in the language that reaches the porch, the pew, the bus stop, the break room, the places where real life happens.
Because I’ve been watching something. And I’ve been feeling something. And I’ve been carrying something in my throat so heavy I joked I needed Kaopectate just to swallow it down.
See… every time somebody shows up with a message meant for us, the people with alphabet soup after their names — the PhDs, the JDs, the MBAs, the “I‑studied-you-but-I-don’t-know-you” crowd — they pour a royal king’s cup of lard all over the moment. They make it slippery. They make it messy. They make it impossible for folk to grab onto the truth.
And then they wonder why nobody heard it.
Let me tell you why.
Because the message wasn’t spoken in our language.
Because the message wasn’t shaped for our lived reality.
Because the message wasn’t carried by somebody who knows what it feels like to be followed around the beauty supply store buying $134 worth of “natural hair” products from people who don’t even wear the hair they’re selling.
Because the message wasn’t shaped for people who’ve been told for 14 years they can’t have more than $5 in savings and then punished for not magically crossing the bridge the moment the rule changed.
Because the message wasn’t shaped for people who’ve been abandoned, dismissed, overlooked, and then told to perform perfection the moment somebody steps on a stage.
And let me say this gently — when Kamala walked into that church with 90 days on the clock, fresh out of political ER, folk didn’t hear her. Not because she didn’t speak. Not because she didn’t identify her lineage. Not because she didn’t stand in her truth. But because hurt people hear through hurt filters. Suspicious people hear through suspicious filters. Tired people hear through tired filters.
And the alphabet‑soup crowd didn’t translate. They didn’t bridge. They didn’t connect the micro to the macro. They didn’t say, “Let me meet you where you are.” They said, “Let me talk to you like you already live where I live.”
That’s not how you reach folk.
That’s not how you build trust.
That’s not how you break generational silence.
And that’s not how you speak to people who’ve been carrying cages inside their chests longer than some of these experts have been alive.
I know that cage. I’ve been in that cage. I’ve spoken from inside that cage. And sometimes, when I get on a roll, I can feel the bars rattling — because I’m still trying to break out while explaining the architecture of the prison.
But let me tell you something tonight:
We don’t need Wall Street language. We don’t need think‑tank language. We don’t need “policy summit” language. We don’t need the curse of knowledge.
We need folk language. We need porch language. We need kitchen-table language. We need “let me tell you what’s really going on” language.
Because when the message is spoken in the language of the people, the people hear it. And when the people hear it, the people move. And when the people move, the whole landscape shifts — not because somebody told them to, but because they finally understood what was being said.
Tonight, I’m not here to predict anything. I’m not here to tell anybody what to do. I’m not here to speak for any candidate or any party. I’m here to speak for folk — the ones who live the consequences of decisions made in rooms they’ll never enter.
I’m here to say: If you want to reach us, speak to us. Not at us. Not around us. Not above us.
Speak to us.
Because when you speak to folk in their own language, they don’t just hear you — they feel you.
And when they feel you, they move.
Thank you.
The content published on this blog reflects journalistic commentary and personal opinion and is protected under the right to Freedom of Speech pursuant to the First Amendment of the United States Constitution (ratified in 1791).
Leave a Reply