Make sure to personalize the subject line of your emails and include what ward you live in and that you're a DC resident if you are one!

On June 17, the DC Council passed Councilmember Brooke Pinto’s omnibus bill 26-187 (the “Peace DC” Amendment Act), which includes a permanent expansion of pretrial detention. If made permanent, pretrial detention would cause more people to be locked up before being convicted of any crime and would hand Trump loyalist, US Attorney for DC Jeanine Pirro, more power over DC residents.

But there's still time to remove that harmful provision from the bill!

Thanks to public pressure, Council has already amended the bill to remove another bad provision, and several councilmembers spoke about their opposition to the pretrial detention expansion. Help us make sure they know they should continue that opposition!

The final vote on the bill will be on July 1st, and councilmembers need to hear from the public that locking people up doesn’t increase safety.

Use the sample script below to call, and click "START WRITING" to send emails (and find more info and evidence below the phone numbers)

-Sample Script-

Ideally call all 12 current members. But if you can’t, prioritize calling your Ward’s councilmember, the Chairman, and the at-large members! Remember to mention that you are a DC resident and/or a resident of that councilmember’s ward. Don’t know what Ward you’re in? Find out here.

Hi, my name is _____ I’m calling to ask the councilmember to vote to amend the “Peace DC Amendment Act of 2025” (Bill 26-187) on July 1st to remove the provision that expands pretrial detention. I appreciate the efforts councilmembers have already made to reduce the harms of this bill, and I hope that instead of further criminalizing Black and Brown DC residents that the Council will support proven ways of preventing violence and healing communities. Can you tell me where the councilmember stands on this? Thank you!

Phone Numbers

More information:

The Council-commissioned study of the emergency expansion of pretrial detention found that it could not “attribute changes in public safety over the last several years to the changes in pretrial detention.” Other studies have shown that detention for even one day has the ability to make irrevocable negative changes to a person’s life, like losing a job or housing, which lead to higher crime rates.

The DC Council’s own Office of Racial Equity found that the expansion of pretrial detention will have a harmful effect on the “safety, health outcomes, and wellbeing” of Black DC residents.

In other words, there is no data to show that DC’s expanded pretrial detention has made us safer, but we have ample proof that it's racist and of of the extensive harm it has caused by disrupting lives and communities.