Reading archive 2025-08-13

The case for — and against — taking your shoes off in the house: Experts make strong arguments on both sides, but ultimately there can only be one verdict

How to fix D.C.’s housing crisis — and ensure rent is paid: Landlord-tenant cases take over a year to resolve in the District’s housing court.

Jeanine Pirro: The fight to make D.C. safe and beautiful: These three laws are detrimental to public safety and to my ability to fight crime.

DC Judge frees teen who shot man on Metrobus, sparking outrage from interim US Attorney for the District of Columbia: The Youth Rehabilitation Act gives judges broad discretion when sentencing defendants who were under 24 when their crimes were committed, angering prosecutors

Trump Is Right That D.C. Has a Serious Crime Problem: But he has the wrong answer for how to fix it.

As National Guard troops arrive, uncertainty over command of D.C. police: The White House and D.C. leadership have each tried to assert that they are in control of the force, even as they emphasize cooperation and shared priorities.

The AI industry is awash in hype, hyperbole and horrible charts: Just checking: 69.1 is a larger number than 30.8, right?

White House announces more aggressive review of Smithsonian museums: In a letter, White House officials said they would review the Smithsonian’s exhibition text, curation, exhibition planning and collections, starting with eight museums.

Your carry-on bag followed the rules. So why was it gate-checked?: Understand the reasons, and avoid getting tagged.

Congress tried to control D.C. police in 1989. The results were disastrous.: Today, relaxed criminal laws and a post-pandemic crime spike have again made D.C. a federal target. But little is known about how federal officials plan to improve the conditions they complain about. - "By 1994, graduates of D.C. police academy classes in 1989 and 1990 composed roughly a third of the force. Yet they made up about half of all officers charged with crimes since 1989, from shoplifting to murder, and more than half of those accused by the department of insubordination, neglect of duty and making false statements. Prosecutors at the time kept a list of D.C. officers so tainted by wrongdoing that they could not be called to testify in court. Half of the 189 officers on that roster were 1989 or 1990 academy graduates.

"The FBI was so worried about growing criminal behavior in the Metropolitan Police Department that it launched an elaborate, months-long sting operation in which D.C. officers were recruited to act as armed guards for what they thought were wholesale drug shipments passing through the District. When the undercover effort, dubbed “Operation Broken Faith,” ended in December 1993, agents arrested 12 officers — all young, unseasoned and ill-trained — who had pocketed $75,800 in payoffs, mostly for escorting a purported 135 kilograms of cocaine. 'The Dirty Dozen,' they came to be called."