Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL), who is running in the 2026 Florida gubernatorial election with the endorsement of President Donald Trump, proposed a new bill known as the “D.C. CRIMES Act.” The measure requires all offenders 18 and older to be sentenced as adults rather than juveniles. Current D.C. law allows 18- to 24-year-old criminals to be treated as juveniles.
[Following common legislative custom, the CRIMES terminology in the bill is also an acronym, standing for ‘Criminal Reforms to Immediately Make Everyone Safe’.]
As seen below, Donalds said: “Lawlessness is a choice,” and “Adult criminals should be sentenced as adults.”
Lawlessness is a choice.
— Congressman Byron Donalds (@RepDonaldsPress) September 16, 2025
It's time for Congress to step up, adhere to our constitutional duty, and firmly address the crime in our nation’s capital.
My bill, H.R. 4922 – "The D.C. CRIMES Act" does just that.
Adult criminals should be sentenced as adults. THIS IS COMMON SENSE. pic.twitter.com/EqxrBcjobf
Before the bill passed in the House (240-179), Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) spoke against the bill on the House floor. Crockett said that while listening to the debate over the bill, “my heart simply broke.”
The next wannabe governor from Florida was spared prison, had his record sealed, and got not one, but three chances at redemption. Now he’s pushing a D.C. crime bill that would deny those same chances to young adults in the District. That screams “opportunities for me, but not… pic.twitter.com/5CtzC1Stka
— Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett (@RepJasmine) September 16, 2025
Without referring to Donalds by name, Crockett slammed Donalds, whom she called “the next wannabe governor of Florida,” for “pushing a D.C. crime bill that will deny a young adult the same chances Donalds received and benefited from as a young man.”
According to Crockett, Donalds “was spared prison, had his record sealed, and got not one, but three chances at redemption.” She added that the bill “screams ‘opportunities for me, but not for thee.'”
An Associated Press article published in February 2025, after he announced his candidacy for Governor, says of Donalds, a New York City native: “In 1996, he went to Florida and attended Florida A&M University, where he was arrested in 1997 for misdemeanor marijuana possession. The charge was ultimately dismissed. In 2000, he was charged with bribery by the state, an allegation he said stemmed from depositing a bad check when facing financial troubles. That record has since been expunged.”
