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District of Columbia Clemency Home Rule Act
To provide that the authority to grant clemency for offenses against the District of Columbia shall be exercised in accordance with law enacted by the District of Columbia.
Summary
This bill would authorize the District of Columbia to establish its own laws and procedures governing the power to grant clemency (pardons, reprieves, sentence commutations, or remission of fines) for crimes committed under DC law. The bill does not affect any clemency authority exercised by the President or the Mayor of DC before DC enacts its own clemency law, and the DC clemency authority would apply to crimes committed before, on, or after the bill's enactment. The specific processes, conditions, and officials who would exercise clemency authority would be determined by laws enacted by the DC government rather than federal law.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
Actions (2)
- Oct 6, 2025 Referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. · house
- Oct 6, 2025 Introduced in House
Similar bills (6)
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Text versions (1)
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Full text
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
October 6, 2025
Ms. Norton introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
A BILL
To provide that the authority to grant clemency for offenses against the District of Columbia shall be exercised in accordance with law enacted by the District of Columbia.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “District of Columbia Clemency Home Rule Act”.
SEC. 2. AUTHORITY TO GRANT CLEMENCY FOR CRIMES UNDER LAWS OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.
(a) Authority Described.—The authority to grant clemency for crimes under the laws of the District of Columbia shall be exercised by such person or persons, and under such terms and conditions, as may be provided under law enacted by the District of Columbia.
(b) Rule of Construction.—Nothing in this Act may be construed—
(1) to affect any authority exercised by the President or the Mayor of the District of Columbia prior to the effective date of any law enacted by the District of Columbia pursuant to this Act with respect to the authority to grant clemency for crimes under the laws of the District of Columbia; or
(2) to limit the authority described in subsection (a) from being exercised with respect to crimes committed before, on, or after the date of the enactment of this Act.
(c) Clemency Defined.—In this Act, the term “clemency” means a pardon, reprieve, or commutation of sentence, or a remission of a fine or other financial penalty. <all>
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