[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 104 (Thursday, June 21, 2018)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E892]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     INTRODUCTION OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA COURTS HOME RULE ACT

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                       HON. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON

                      of the district of columbia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 21, 2018

  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, today, I introduce the District of Columbia 
Courts Home Rule Act. This bill would give the Council of the District 
of Columbia authority over the jurisdiction and organization of the 
local D.C. courts. The 1973 Home Rule Act (HRA) expressly prohibits 
D.C. from enacting any law with respect to any provision of the D.C. 
Code title that relates to these matters.
  Forty-five years after the passage of the HRA, matters involving the 
D.C. courts almost never come to Congress, so Congress knows almost 
nothing about the District's courts. Notwithstanding the importance of 
D.C.'s courts to District residents, the D.C. Council, which is the 
repository of knowledge and experience for the District's criminal and 
civil justice systems and the accountable body to our residents, is 
irresponsibly left on the sidelines while Congress remains the sole 
entity to correct flaws in the District's courts.
  Under the HRA, the D.C. Council has no authority to ``enact any act, 
resolution, or rule with respect to any provision of title 11 of the 
District of Columbia Code (relating to organization and jurisdiction of 
the District of Columbia courts).'' Matters in title 11 include rules 
of criminal and civil procedure, court administration, the number of 
authorized judges, the branches of the courts, the rules of jury 
service and admission to the bar. The bill would strike this limitation 
on the D.C. Council's authority.
  The District has never had authority over its local courts, even when 
it was responsible for paying for their operations. Under the National 
Capital Revitalization and Self-Government Improvement Act of 1997, the 
federal government assumed the costs for several state-level functions, 
including the courts. This bill would not affect the authority of the 
President to nominate, or the Senate to confirm, local judges.
  This is an important step to increase home rule for the District, and 
I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

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