A crime bill that asks the D.C. Council to tighten up a mix of public safety laws includes provisions that strike at the heart of public demonstrations — a frequent and common practice in the nation's capital taken to new levels during the Occupy D.C. protest.
Owning a gun in the District of Columbia can be dangerous, because the city's hastily drafted rules are putting the innocent in jeopardy. A gun owner who has cleared the District's 17 registration hurdles still isn't home free. To continue exercising the Second Amendment right to keep arms, individuals have to renew registration certificates every three years and show up at the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) every six years to be fingerprinted.
Less than two weeks after Harry Thomas Jr. stepped gave up his Ward 5 seat on the D.C. Council and pleaded guilty to stealing District funds, the saturation of medical marijuana centers and other issues in his Northeast ward will take center stage at the first legislative session without him.
D.C. Public Schools officials failed to report an allegation of child sexual abuse to the Child and Family Services Agency and, instead, retaliated against the Ward 7 activist who alerted them to it, then lied about a report having been made, council member Phil Mendelson says in a letter to Chancellor Kaya Henderson.
Still reeling from the downfall of native son Harry Thomas Jr., D.C. stakeholders are pondering their next moves by envisioning short- and long-term snapshots of a city with no kingmakers.
The spotlight on the District's effort to dissuade law-abiding residents from purchasing handguns is making some on the D.C. Council uncomfortable. Council member Phil Mendelson on Tuesday introduced legislation easing some of the most absurd hoops one must jump through in order to exercise the right to keep arms in the nation's capital.
A D.C. Council member has proposed legislation that eases the way for prospective D.C. gun owners to complete a required safety course and cuts red tape in the registration process.
Four days after a federal raid on his Northeast home, D.C. Council member Harry Thomas Jr. took part in the unanimous approval of a sweeping ethics bill that could see final passage before the end of the year.
The D.C. Council introduced a bill Tuesday that cuts in half the amount of time U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has to pick up illegal immigrants placed on a civil detainer.
