The Committee on Public Safety and the Judiciary is responsible for any legislation related to criminal, civil, and administrative law in the District of Columbia. It also oversees all of the District’s public safety agencies, conducting hearings to hold agencies and their directors accountable for performance and spending.  For more information on the Committee and their agencies, click here.

10.31.07 - Mendelson Prepping for FEMS Oversight Hearing
There will be a public oversight hearing on the Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department (FEMS) on October 31st. Throughout the summer, and now with the recent fire in Adams Morgan, the functionality of fire hydrants is a continuing concern. Responsibility for these functions overlaps between FEMS and the DC Water and Sewer Authority and to follow up from his public roundtable earlier this year, Councilmember Mendelson will be questioning key FEMS and WASA authorities on these issues.

10.29.07 - Mendelson to Hold Hearing on DOC
The Committee on Public Safety and the Judiciary will hold an oversight hearing on the Department of Corrections (DOC) on October 29th. More specifically, Councilmember Mendelson will examine the operations, management, and overall performance of DOC.

06.08.07 - Anatomical Gift Legislation Examined
The Committee held a hearing in June on the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act Revision Act of 2007. This legislation will update D.C. law related to organ and tissue donation and transplantation. The Committee is working with the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) and the Washington Regional Transplant Consortium (WRTC) to produce legislation that supports organ donation while still protecting the important death investigation function performed by OCME.

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ARTICLES/PRESS RELEASES

10.12.07 - Mayor Asks that Rhee Get Firing Authority (Washington Post)
"That's always the challenge with government personnel rules. You want the agency to be agile, but at the same time you want to build in safeguards against arbitrary managers."

10.12.07 - District Officials Say Report Indicates Overextended, Understaffed Workforce (DC Examiner)
“It’s an enormous cost, and completely avoidable...It’s also a real strain for the worker who week after week puts in 50, 60 hours, often when they weren’t expecting to. It’s a real grind on them.”

10.11.07 - District Set to Pay Patient's Family (Washington Post)
"The city got themselves in a reactive, defensive posture from the get-go," Mendelson said.

10.11.07 - Fenty Administration Drops $2.2 Bill to Man Who Gouged Out Own Eyes (DC Examiner)
“I think it’s outrageous to bill for negligent care,” [Mendelson] told The Examiner.

10.10.07 - Pants Suit Judge Still on the Job (DC Examiner)
“It does no one any good to drag this out and have someone on the payroll not performing his job,” [Mendelson] said. “It’s in everyone’s interest to get this done.”

10.6.07 - DC Judge Pressures City on Jail Population (Washington Post)
"The idea that they would come in with a number 1,000 above the range suggests a disregard for the safety of everyone at the jail..."

10.3.07 - Bill Would Aid Patients Hurt by Negligence (Washington Post)
Mendelson and other council members said the practice is unfair.

10.2.07 - Mendelson Spearheads Legislative Fix to Improper Billing of Mental Patient (Press Release)
"In the end though, I am confident that we will have a law that does not reward the government for poor care.”

9.26.07 - DC Disputes $1.8 Million In Legal Fees From Special Ed Suit (DC Examiner)
“It just generates this kind of dispute, distracting us from what’s really the issue, which is the quality of children’s education."

9.24.07 - Council May Put Calories on the Menu (Washington Times)
"Over and over again, Americans are given the message to watch what they eat. Yet how can we? How can one watch their calories when one can't count them?" Mr. Mendelson told the Montgomery County Council.

 

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COMING SOON!