To lower the age at which a minor may be tried as an adult for certain criminal offenses in the District of Columbia to 14 year... in plain language

1: Lowering age at which a minor may be tried as adult for certain criminal offenses in District of Columbia

This section would change District of Columbia law on when a minor can be tried as an adult instead of going through the Family Court system. First, it would amend DC Code Section 16-2301, which defines who counts as a child for purposes of the DC Family Court's jurisdiction. For the offenses listed in paragraph (3) of that section, the age at which a minor is excluded from that definition of child, and so can be tried as an adult, would drop from 16 to 14. Second, it would amend DC Code Section 16-2307(a), which governs when a minor's case can be transferred out of Family Court into a criminal, adult court proceeding. That law sets a different minimum age in each of three separate paragraphs, and this bill would lower all three to 14: the minimum age in paragraph (1) would drop from 15 to 14, the minimum age in paragraph (2) would drop from 16 to 14, and the minimum age in paragraph (3) would drop from 18 to 14. Finally, the section states that these changes would apply only to criminal offenses committed on or after the date this Act is enacted, and would not apply to offenses committed before that date.