Please direct any questions about the RCCA to [email protected]. CCRC staff will make every effort to answer any questions or inquiries relating to the agency’s work.
Frequently Asked Questions About the “Revised Criminal Code Act of 2021” (RCCA)
Why does the District need a new criminal code?
- The District’s current criminal code is old and out of date. The District’s current criminal code has not undergone a comprehensive revision since its creation by Congress in 1901. Comprehensive revision and modernization is long overdue and the RCCA will bring D.C.’s criminal code into alignment with established best practices from around the country.
- The Council created the D.C. Criminal Code Reform Commission in 2016 to provide comprehensive recommendations to modernize and revise the District’s criminal code. The CCRC’s work culminated in the “Revised Criminal Code Act of 2021” (RCCA).
- The RCCA modernizes the District’s criminal code by adopting best practices established by the Model Penal Code (MPC), published by the American Law Institute in 1962. The American Law Institute developed the MPC because it deemed American criminal law at the time to be chaotic, irrational, and in need of comprehensive modernization and revision. Following the MPC’s publication, 29 states revised their criminal codes based on the recommendations in the MPC similar to the development of the RCCA.
- The RCCA also ensures that the District’s criminal laws are written by the District’s elected Councilmembers, not members of Congress unaccountable to DC voters. The District is the only jurisdiction in the country with a criminal code written by Congress. Such important local issues deserve to have input from the District’s residents and voters.
What are some examples of problems with the District’s existing criminal code?
- The current code is largely outdated: The current code includes outdated references to stables and steamboats, as well as outdated offenses that criminalize playing games of bandy or shindy.
- The current code is incomplete: The current code frequently fails to specify what must be proven in order for a person to be found guilty of an offense. For example, the current assault statute states, “Whoever unlawfully assaults [another person] . . . shall be . . . imprisoned not more than 180 days[.]” The statute does not specify whether assault requires inflicting injury, or if any unwanted touching suffices. The statute also does not specify whether accidental injuries or touching constitutes assault.
- The current code does not define defenses to criminal conduct. For example, the code does not specify when a person is permitted to use force in self defense.
- The current code has disproportionate penalties: The current code authorizes inconsistent and disproportionate penalties. For example, under the current code, attempting to damage property and aggravated assault that results in life-threatening injuries have identical 10 year maximum sentences.
How did the CCRC develop the recommendations that are included in the RCCA?
- Numerous sources consulted: The CCRC’s authorizing statute required it to consult with numerous sources in making its recommendations. The CCRC conducted a thorough review of current law in the District, researched law and best practices across the 50 states, and reviewed relevant legal scholarship. The CCRC also analyzed current charging and sentencing practices in the District.
- Multiple public opinion surveys: The CCRC also conducted five public opinion surveys that asked District residents to assess the severity of various forms of criminal conduct. The CCRC considered these survey results with determining penalties for various offenses.
- Consultation with the Advisory Group: The CCRC’s statute required that it work extensively with a Code Revision Advisory Group (Advisory Group) and that a majority of its voting members approve the CCRC’s final recommendations. The Advisory Group consisted of five voting members and two non-voting members. The five voting members were the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia, the Director of the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia, the Attorney General for the District of Columbia, or their designees, and two law professors appointed by the Council. The two non-voting members were the Chairperson of the Judiciary and Public Safety Committee and the Deputy Mayor for Public Safety and Justice, or their designee.
- From November 2016 to March 2021, the CCRC held more than 50 monthly meetings with the Advisory Group to discuss the CCRC’s draft revised code recommendations and receive Advisory Group feedback. All meetings were open to the public and minutes and electronic recordings of the meetings were posted online.
- The CCRC produced preliminary draft versions of every provision in the RCCA and submitted them to the Advisory Group for review. Thousands of pages of legal research and draft recommendations were provided to the Advisory Group, who then provided hundreds of pages of comments to the CCRC. All materials discussed at the meetings were posted online at the time of their exchange. Subsequent drafts and the final language included in the RCCA incorporated many of the recommendations provided by Advisory Group members.
- The CCRC provided explicit written rationales for why it did or did not adopt each Advisory Group suggestion.
- A unanimous vote: On March 24, 2021, the five voting members of the Advisory Group unanimously voted to send the CCRC’s recommendations to the Council and the Mayor.
What is the status of the RCCA?
- On October 1, 2021, at the request of the CCRC, Council Chairman Phil Mendelson introduced the Revised Criminal Code Act of 2021.
- The bill was referred to the Council’s Committee on the Judiciary and Public Safety (the Committee) on October 5, 2021. The Committee held a two-day symposium and three public hearings on the RCCA in the fall of 2021. Archived recordings of the hearings are publicly available using the links below:
- Across the three hearings, witnesses testified in near unanimous support of the RCCA. Dozens of witnesses provided testimony about the RCCA, including members of the public, criminal justice experts and advocates, legal academics, representatives from local government agencies, and the CCRC.
- Government witnesses included representatives from the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia, and the Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia.
- The RCCA was unanimously approved by the Judiciary and Public Safety Committee of the Washington, DC Council on a 5:0 vote. It is scheduled to head to the full Council for a vote on November 1st.
- This section will be periodically updated as the Council continues to consider the RCCA. This section was last updated on June 16, 2022.
Please direct any questions about the RCCA to [email protected]. CCRC staff will make every effort to answer any questions or inquiries relating to the agency’s work.