The Sentencing Project has raised an alarm over proposed legislation that would override local control of criminal sentencing in the District of Columbia.

The Strong Sentences for Safer D.C. Streets Act is among the bills moving through the legislative process. It would provide that those convicted of first-degree murder face a mandated sentence of life without the possibility of parole, a significant change from the current mandatory minimum sentence of 30 years in prison.

The bill also removes the exception established by the U.S. Supreme Court case, Miller v. Alabama (2012), which deemed unconstitutional a mandatory sentence of life without the possibility of parole to a minor charged with first-degree murder.

Additionally, the bill would impose lengthy new mandatory minimum sentences for several other categories of crime.

“We all believe that public safety must be a top priority. But we have decades of evidence proving extreme punishments do not make us safer,” said Kara Gotsch, executive director of the Sentencing Project. “Instead, they trap kids and parents behind bars, rip families apart, and devastate communities for generations.”

“The bottom line is lawmakers cannot talk about public safety while pushing failed policies that make us less safe,” said Gotsch.

The bill is a federal takeover, overriding local decision-making by imposing harsher punishments and increasing the prison population, the report said.

The Sentencing Project described some of the provisions as blatantly unconstitutional and warned that if Congress passes the bill, it will not only be a federal power grab that harms Washingtonians and dismantles effective criminal justice reforms, but that it could expand to other cities.

“What’s happening in D.C. is a test case that could open the door for federal overreach into communities nationwide, even as cities across the country report decreased crime rates,” said the article.

Instead of harsher punishments, evidence shows that crime decreases with investments in programs and services within the communities, said Gotsch.

Over the past decade, progressive reforms have succeeded in lowering recidivism rates.

In 2016, D.C. passed the Incarcerated Reduction Amendment Act, which gave judges authority to review and reconsider sentences of young adults and juveniles after 15 years of incarceration.

“The good news is we know what does reduce crime: Investing in community-based services and interventions has been proven to address the root causes of crime …We’ve seen such investments dramatically decrease violent crime rates in Washington, DC, well before this ill-advised takeover began.”