DC mayor and council at odds over new criminal code

By ASHRAF KHALIL
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Washington, D.C., mayor and city council are locked in a public dispute over how to respond to rising crime rates and spiraling public tensions over gun violence in the nation’s capital. The D.C. Council voted 12-1 on Tuesday to override Mayor Muriel Bowser’s veto of a sweeping rewrite of the city’s criminal code. Bowser vetoed the measure earlier this month, saying she opposed some of its provisions, including a reduction in the maximum penalties for burglary, carjacking, robbery and other offenses. The new criminal code must now pass a 60-day review period during which the Republican-controlled U.S. House can alter or completely override it.