The D.C. Council has extended directives on pretrial detention of young people who are arrested for violent crimes in the city.
Without the council’s approval Tuesday of the emergency legislation, the provision that expanded pretrial detention would have otherwise expired July 15.
With her Peace D.C. bill, Ward 2 Council member Brook Pinto urged the council to approve the measure and make it permanent — but an approved amendment prevented that.
“Without this extension today, violent crimes like first-degree sexual abuse, which is rape, child sexual abuse, strangulation, aggravated assault, first-degree child cruelty, kidnapping and carjacking would no longer have the rebuttable presumption to be held before trial,” Pinto told the council ahead of the vote.
With rebuttable presumption, it is assumed that a young person accused of a serious crime will be held before trial unless they prove to a judge that they are not a danger to the community and should be released.
At-Large D.C. Council member and Chair Pro Tempore Kenyan McDuffie and Ward 3 Council member Matthew Frumin joined together on an amendment, which was approved, that kept the provision in place but didn’t make it permanent.
Instead, it will be extended until Sept. 30, 2026.
The extension comes as the city attempts to address youth crime overall. On Tuesday, the D.C. Council also approved a proposal to change the citywide curfew to 11 p.m. for the summer.
But some members of the council disagreed on how to handle pretrial detention for kids and teens.
Frumin said giving rebuttable presumption more time will allow the council to better examine its use with more data.
“I am not comfortable with saying, OK, we’re going to get rid of this at this point based on the things that we’ve seen, including the significant reduction in crime in the period since we did this,” Frumin said.
Council split on youth pretrial detention
Extending the practice of holding youth before trial is also supported by D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, who before the vote encouraged the council to not “backtrack on public safety.”
“We cannot go back to the summer of 2023 when the fear in our city was palpable — a time that terrified residents, businesses, and visitors alike,” Bowser said in a post on X.
Bowser on X would later praise the council for approving the measure.
Among those against the legislation, Council member Robert White claimed the data doesn’t show that pretrial detention works, claiming it increases the chance of recidivism by arrested youth.
“The bottom line is we don’t have evidence that this works,” White said.
White introduced an amendment that would not allow for rebuttable presumption to become permanent, but the amendment failed.
Ward 4 Council member Janeese Lewis George expressed concern about the pretrial detentions, claiming for those impacted it keeps them from school and work, which could impact their families.
“The effects of those traumas last for years, even if the person is eventually acquitted or charges are dropped,” George said.
Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.
© 2025 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.
