Norton Introduces Bill for an Elected D.C. District Attorney in Her Continued Quest for Full Citizenship Rights for D.C. Residents

(ideally, were the Local District Attorney to be elected, the position of City District Attorney, which is separate from the role of the DA who prosecutes crimes, and in DC only, is a federal function, the positions would be merged into one)

From the Delegate Norton website:

Washington, DC—Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), who recently recommended to President Barack Obama a candidate for U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, which is pending at the White House, today introduced a bill that would allow District residents to elect their own District Attorney (D.A.). Norton’s bill, the District of Columbia District Attorney Establishment Act of 2009, is one of the her “Free and Equal D.C.” series of bills, part of her ongoing pursuit of full autonomy for the District of Columbia.

“We’re happy to help the president select the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia. But for local crimes, we need a D.A. elected directly by the people of this city, just as other jurisdictions select their own chief law enforcement officials,” Norton said.

Congresswoman Norton’s “Free and Equal D.C.” series includes the recently-passed Hatch Act, giving District officials authority, as in other states, to enact their own local Hatch Act and her D.C. Coin Act, which resulted in a D.C. quarter, featuring Duke Ellington, being introduced into national circulation this year. Among other bills in the “Free and Equal D.C.” series are the D.C. Budget Autonomy Act and the D.C. Legislative Autonomy Act, which Norton introduced earlier this year.

The Congresswoman was granted senatorial courtesy by Obama, but she worked with her Federal Law Enforcement Nominating Commission to recommend a candidate for U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, who is responsive to local needs. She continues to press for an elected D.A. to give District residents themselves “direct influence on an officer as important as other elected officials.”

In November 2002, District voters overwhelmingly (by 82 percent) approved a locally elected D.A. on a referendum. Subsequently, the D.C. City Council approved legislation authorizing the Home Rule Act to be amended accordingly. However, establishing that position will require an Act of Congress and presidential approval due to the District’s unique political status.

During the Clinton administration, Norton had senatorial courtesy for the District of Columbia for the first time in the city’s history, and she recommended the city’s first African American U.S. Attorney, Eric H. Holder, Jr., who earlier this year became the nation’s first African American U.S. Attorney General. Another Norton appointee, Wilma A. Lewis, became the first woman U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia.

This year, Obama granted the Congresswoman the same senatorial courtesy, which also includes authority to recommend judges for U.S. District Court. Norton has just recommended three judicial candidates and yesterday advertised another vacancy for a judgeship. Norton also recommended former D.C. Police Chief Isaac Fulwood for chair of the U.S. Parole Commission. Fulwood was appointed and is now serving as chair of the Commission.