In writing about Jack Evans, his corruption is so extraordinary ( https://districtdig.com/2020/02/13/willing-parties/) that other stuff falls by the wayside, like his problematic chairmanship of the Judiciary Committee in the mid to late 90s, which merits much closer scrutiny.

Ahead of tonight’s #ReformDCJustice @ACLU_DC debate, I wanted to share a few relevant Evans quotes from way back and quite recently. https://twitter.com/ACLU_DC/status/1252693517626941440

Here Evans calls the broken windows theory of policing “an important approach” that was "discredited wrongly” and he gives a shout out to its chief implementer Bill Bratton.

Evans said this just seven months ago, in September ( https://dccouncil.us/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Exhibit-8_Public-Redacted-FINAL.pdf)

The broken windows theory was justified, Evans claims, because in NYC “half the people jumping the turnstiles had a gun.”

Again, Evans said this just seven months ago.

Evans goes on to claim he brought the broken windows theory to DC. “So those are the concepts we adopted for the District of Columbia.”

"Evans said yesterday that he saw no need for his colleagues to join him in closed-door sessions with police and control board officials studying ways to reform the city's wounded police department… 'If you get too many people in the room, it's hard to get anything done.’"

"Council member Harold Brazil (D-At Large) said he finds that thinking 'insulting, not to mention counterproductive.'… The committee's work 'shouldn't be secret from us,' Brazil said in an interview yesterday. 'I mean, whose government is it?’”

"Evans acknowledged there should be an opportunity for his colleagues to sit down and share information about police department reform. Then he added: 'That presumes people will show up. Some of my colleagues don't come to meetings.’”

At tonight’s @ACLU_DC debate it’d be great to hear Jack Evans asked about the crucial role he played in overseeing DC police as chairman of the Judiciary Committee during years when the city displaced an extraordinary number of African Americans.

Is Evans still proud of the role he played in bringing the broken windows theory to DC? Or has his position changed in the past few months?

In addition to pushing for locking up disproportionately African Americans, Evans also pushed gentrification through extraordinary tax giveaways to the wealthiest (who at times were his secret patrons, which is the sorta thing that can land you in jail). https://fair.org/home/wapo-complicit-in-corruption-of-dc-councils-corporate-concierge/

Very frustrating. I somehow screwed up this thread.

Will repost a few of the quotes, but with their missing context:

They're from a 10/1/97 WaPo story by Vanessa Williams: "D.C. Council Member Rebuffs Colleagues’ Effort to Join Police Reform Hearings”

"Evans said yesterday that he saw no need for his colleagues to join him in closed-door sessions with police and control board officials studying ways to reform the city's wounded police department… 'If you get too many people in the room, it's hard to get anything done.’"