Overview
- Speaking on a newly released podcast interview, U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro said D.C. laws such as the Incarceration Reduction Act and Youth Rehabilitation Amendment Act allow young adult offenders to receive probation for serious crimes.
- Pirro credited President Trump’s summer policing surge and the National Guard presence with lowering killings, saying homicides are down 67% since the surge, with MPD data showing 122 homicides this year versus 170 at this time last year.
- She called for lowering age thresholds and pressed the Senate to act on House-passed measures that would roll back D.C.’s youth-sentencing provisions.
- Pirro contrasted her approach with former U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves, citing reporting that charges were declined in 67% of arrests in FY2022, which Graves defended in part by pointing to the city crime lab’s lost accreditation.
- As examples of accountability gaps, she pointed to the Aug. 3 mugging of Edward Coristine that resulted in juvenile probation sentences and complained that a politically skewed jury pool helped sink at least one case at the grand jury stage.