The Secure DC Omnibus bill, or the “crimnibus”, will significantly expand pretrial detention (caging people while they await trial, before they have been convicted of a crime) for kids and adults, even though research shows that it is ineffective and ruins lives. In fact, according to the DC Council Office of Racial Equity the provisions in the bill that expand pretrial detention “will likely negatively impact the community safety and economic stability of DC’s Black residents” and “would create the groundwork for a vicious cycle of incarceration.”

Today, we are asking you to call and email the DC Council asking them to strike every change in the crimnibus that would expand pretrial detention. Scroll to learn more about the provisions, why they are bad, and what the Council should do instead.

Sample script:

Hi, My name is _____, and I am calling to ask you to REJECT every provision in the Secure DC Omnibus Amendment Act that would expand pretrial detention because research shows that pretrial detention is not necessary and ruins lives. Less than 2% of people who are released pretrial are rearrested for a violent crime. Studies show that pretrial detention actually increases the likelihood of future arrests. The only thing pretrial detention does is destroy lives. When people are held pretrial, before they have been convicted of a crime, they can fall behind in school, lose their jobs, fall behind on rent, lose access to adequate mental health and drug treatment, become unable to care for their families, lose custody of their children, and more. Pretrial detention is also more expensive! DC spends $371 per day to incarcerate a single person. In contrast, releasing people pretrial and supervising them instead costs an average of $12 per day per person.

Instead of expanding pretrial detention, DC should release people on unsecured bonds which is a proven, effective way to ensure court appearance and public safety. DC should also invest in a simple, cost-effective court appearance notification text message system, which is a proven, effective way to ensure people don’t forget to show up for court. Councilmember, can I count on you to reject every provision in Secure DC that expands pretrial detention and instead rely on evidence-based methods of court appearance?

Phone numbers:

If you can, please call all 13 councilmembers. 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.

Chairman	Phil Mendelson	(202) 724-8032
At-large Councilmember	Robert White	(202) 724-8174
At-large Councilmember	Anita Bonds	(202) 724-8064
At-large Councilmember	Christina Henderson	(202) 724-8105
At-large Councilmember	Kenyan McDuffie	(202) 724-7772
Ward 1 Councilmember	Brianne Nadeau	(202) 724-8181
Ward 2 Councilmember	Brooke Pinto	(202) 724-8058
Ward 3 Councilmember	Matthew Frumin	(202) 724-8062
Ward 4 Councilmember	Janeese Lewis-George	(202) 724-8052
Ward 5 Councilmember	Zachary Parker	(202) 724-8028
Ward 6 Councilmember	Charles Allen	(202) 724-8072
Ward 7 Councilmember	Vincent Gray	(202) 724-8068
Ward 8 Councilmember	Trayon White	(202) 724-8045

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Learn more:

Specifically Secure DC will:

• Make pretrial detention the default in more criminal cases against children and adults, including for less serious and some nonviolent acts. For example, if a judge merely found “probable cause” that someone stole a bike from a porch, this would qualify them for pretrial detention by default.
• Lower the standard of proof prosecutors have to meet when arguing that a person should be detained before trial by default. This lower standard would apply to certain serious offenses where there is no cap on how long someone can be detained, and where people are already routinely jailed for 3 years before trial. Lowering this standard of proof would not only undermine the principle of ‘innocent-until-proven-guilty’ but would also shatter lives, families, and communities.
• Remove requirements that trials happen within 100 days for certain serious offenses, and allow prosecutors to request limitless 45-day delays on top of the 100-day cap for other offenses. While prosecutors claim these changes would give them more time to build their case, current law already allows prosecutors to ask for limitless 20-day delays on top of the 100-day cap. So, all these changes would do is undermine the longstanding right of defendants to a speedy trial, holding defendants, victims, and their families in indefinite limbo.

Pretrial detention isn’t necessary and ruins lives.

• It’s not “necessary” to prevent violence: less than 2% of people who are released pretrial are rearrested for a violent crime. Studies show that pretrial detention actually increases the likelihood of future arrests.
• The only thing pretrial detention does is destroy lives. Detention itself is family separation. And when people are held pretrial, before they have been convicted of a crime, they can fall behind in school, lose their jobs, fall behind on rent, lose access to adequate mental health and drug treatment, become unable to care for their families, lose custody of their children, and more.
• It can be extremely dangerous for those detained. DC Jail conditions are notoriously inhumane — full of cockroaches, slime, feces, and more — and people die every year while detained at the jail.
• Pretrial detention is also more expensive. DC spends $371 per day to incarcerate a single person. Pretrial supervision (release) costs an average of $12 per day per person.

Instead of expanding pretrial detention the Council should:

• Invest in youth instead of jailing them. DC youth need and deserve a massive expansion of youth programs (both within and outside of school)
• Hold an oversight hearing and roundtable on the notoriously inhumane DC Jail conditions
• Release people on unsecured bonds (meaning people don’t have to pay anything upfront but may have to pay if they don’t show up for court). This is the current norm in DC, and it is a proven, effective way to ensure court appearance and public safety.
• Invest in a simple, cost-effective court appearance notification text message system, which is a proven, effective way to ensure people don’t forget to show up for court.