US Attorney describes challenges of prosecuting carjackings in DC, citing youth crime laws
July 8, 2024
WASHINGTON (7News) — U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves spoke about carjacking trends in the District and prosecution challenges his office faces at a press conference Monday.
"It's harder to prosecute carjackings in this jurisdiction than others," he told reporters.
Graves pointed to the
Youth Rehabilitation Act (YRA), which allows courts to sentence below the mandatory minimum for most crimes for offenders under the age of 25. Graves said 75% of carjackers arrested last year were in this age range, with most of them under 18 years old.
The U.S. Attorney's Office will request stricter sentences than judges ultimately issue, explained Graves, pointing to the YRA. There are two parts of that law he feels needs to be addressed, concerning the mandatory minimums and how many times a defendant can use the YRA
Graves wants carjacking to be exempt from the YRA like murder and certain other crimes are. He said mandatory minimums should not be ignored for carjackings because of how serious the crime is.
Graves also feels offenders should be limited to falling under the YRA once, saying he's seen repeat offenders being sentenced under those guidelines as many as four times in extreme cases.
"From our perspective, it should be a singular bite at the apple," he explained.
These are all challenges, they get exposed when you get hit with a crime wave," he explained. "You don't feel them at first, you don't see them when they're immediately passed. But when the crisis comes, that's when you see the shortcomings of your foundation."
As of July 7, carjackings are down 46% year-to-date since last year, according to
data from the Metropolitan Police Department.
Graves said he has instructed career supervisors to strongly consider prosecuting 16 and 17-year-olds as adults when they are involved in a series of armed carjackings.
“None of us on this stage came to our roles wanting to prosecute juveniles as adults, but given what we saw in the last couple of years, if we want to continue to reverse the carjacking trend, we have to prosecute as adults the juveniles who are turbocharging it," he said.
Graves also said he is glad the council's Secure D.C. law expanded the definition of carjacking
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shyt is out of control so something was gonna happen whether its a perfect solution or part of a solution
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