Cell Blockage
by Annys Shin January 10th, 2003 August 29th, 2020
On Jan. 7, D.C. Council Judiciary Committee Chair Kathy Patterson and Ward 6 Councilmember Sharon Ambrose reintroduced a bill to limit the number of inmates at the D.C. Jail to 1,674. The reform measure was first introduced in December, just after two inmates in the facility were stabbed to death—crimes that corrections officers blamed on overcrowding. The council had already passed what seemed to be similar legislation back in May. Unfortunately, that Ambrose-penned bill set a 2,050 cap on the number of "sentenced persons" at the jail—even though the majority of inmates are people awaiting trial, who have not been sentenced. "We have a better handle now on what the number ought to be, given some recent developments," Ambrose says. —Annys Shin