Judiciary & Public Safety Public Hearing

Council of the District of Columbia COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY & PUBLIC SAFETY NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20004 COUNCILMEMBER CHARLES ALLEN, CHAIRPERSON COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY & PUBLIC SAFETY ANNOUNCES A PUBLIC HEARING ON B24-0075, THE “EXPANDING SUPPORTS FOR CRIME VICTIMS AMENDMENT ACT OF 2021” AND B24-0116, THE “VICTIMS’ PROTECTION AMENDMENT ACT OF 2021” Thursday, May 13, 2021, 9:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. Virtual Hearing via Zoom To Watch Live: https://dccouncil.us/council-videos/ http://video.oct.dc.gov/DCC/jw.html https://www.facebook.com/CMcharlesallen/ On Thursday, May 13, 2021, Councilmember Charles Allen, Chairperson of the Committee on the Judiciary and Public Safety, will convene a public hearing to consider Bill 24-0075, the “Expanding Supports for Crime Victims Amendment Act of 2021”, and Bill 24-0116, the “Victims’ Protection Amendment Act of 2021”. The hearing will be conducted virtually via Zoom from 9:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. The stated purpose of B24-0075, the “Expanding Supports for Crime Victims Amendment Act of 2021”, is to amend the Victims of Violent Crime Compensation Act of 1996 to expand the definitions of “collateral source,” “crime,” and “medical expenses,” to provide definitions for the terms “intimate partner” and “minor,” to expand eligibility for victims of crime to receive compensation, to increase the compensation available to claimants who are or were the parent, guardian, custodian, or primary caregiver to more than two children, and to provide additional methods for claimants to satisfy the reporting requirement for crime victim compensation; to amend the District of Columbia Mental Health Information Act of 1978 to make conforming changes; to amend Title 14 of the District of Columbia Official Code to establish crime victim advocacy programs and hospital-based violence intervention programs and to make communications between victims and crime victim advocates or members of hospital-based 1 violence intervention programs confidential, and to require that clients have notice of and an opportunity to object to potential disclosures of confidential communications; to amend the Anti- Sexual Abuse Act of 1994 to explicitly criminalize the first or second degree sexual abuse of an arrestee or detainee; and to amend Title 23 of the District of Columbia Code to provide victims of gunshot and stabbing wounds the right to have a member of a hospital-based violence intervention program present during any forensic medical, evidentiary, or physical examination at the hospital or interviews with law enforcement at the hospital, to allow sexual assault victims to pursue injunctive relief for violations of their rights, and to prevent the execution of arrest warrants on sexual assault victims seeking emergency medical treatment or medical forensic care. The stated purpose of B24-0116, the “Victims’ Protection Amendment Act of 2021”, is to amend Title 23 of the District of Columbia Official Code to create a criminal offense for the violation of a post-conviction stayaway or no contact condition of release, to authorize the arrest of a person who violates that prohibition, to create the felony offense of strangulation of another person, and to add strangulation to the definition of a crime of violence; and to amend the District of Columbia Administrative Procedure Act to exclude government employees or officers who participate in the District’s Address Confidentiality Program from having their names, addresses, and salaries being made public. The Committee invites the public to provide oral and written testimony. Public witnesses seeking to provide oral testimony at the Committee’s hearing must thoroughly review the following instructions: • Anyone wishing to provide oral testimony must email the Committee at judiciary@dccouncil.us with their name, telephone number, and organizational affiliation and title (if any), by the close of business on Friday, May 7, 2021. • The Committee will approve witnesses’ registrations based on the total time allotted for public testimony. The Committee will also determine the order of witnesses’ testimony. • Representatives of organizations will be allowed a maximum of five minutes for oral testimony, and individuals (and any subsequent representatives of the same organizations) will be allowed a maximum of three minutes. • Witnesses are not permitted to yield their time to, or substitute their testimony for, the testimony of another individual or organization. • If possible, witnesses should submit a copy of their testimony electronically in advance to judiciary@dccouncil.us. • Witnesses who anticipate needing language interpretation are requested to inform the Committee as soon as possible, but no later than five business days before the hearing. The Committee will make every effort to fulfill timely requests; however, requests received fewer than five business days before the hearing may not be fulfilled. For witnesses who are unable to testify at the hearing, written statements will be made part of the official record. Copies of written statements should be emailed to the Committee at judiciary@dccouncil.us no later than the close of business on Friday, May 21, 2021. 2