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This is a map of racial segregation in DC
A year ago, the local US Attorney adopted a new charging policy that doubled the prison time for 100s of affected defendants.
They said the policy applied citywide.
It didn't.
It only ever applied in the Blackest parts of the city
A year ago, the local US Attorney adopted a new charging policy that doubled the prison time for 100s of affected defendants.
They said the policy applied citywide.
It didn't.
It only ever applied in the Blackest parts of the city
When the U.S. Attorney announced the new policy at a press conference back in February of 2019 she said it applied to "essentially all" of the city.
There's no polite way to say this: That was a lie.
And she knew it was a lie when she said it.
There's no polite way to say this: That was a lie.
And she knew it was a lie when she said it.
How do I know this? My students and I have been fighting the policy for a year. And as the @WashingtonPost now reports, the DOJ, responding to our briefs, recently admitted that they've been targeting the three Blackest precincts in the city from the start. https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/legal-issues/dc-crackdown-on-gun-crime-targeted-black-wards-was-not-enforced-citywide-as-announced/2020/09/03/f6de0ce2-e933-11ea-970a-64c73a1c2392_story.html
If that weren't shocking enough, the Government has also now disclosed that an internal "Working Group of Black AUSAs" has formed within the US Attorneyâs Office to fight the policy from the inside - as we fight it from the outside.
To folks who know anything about federal prosecutors, this is a stunning revelation.
Internal rebellions like this are incredibly rare from line prosecutors. Doubly so when they are siding with criminal defendants charged with "street crimes." And it's triply rare for a group to formally constitute itself as "the Working Group of Black AUSAs."
Clearly, these Black federal prosecutors have seen something deeply troubling going on inside their office and they are taking a stand against it.
Good for them. That takes some guts.
Good for them. That takes some guts.
But they arenât the only ones speaking out against the policy. It has been opposed as racially unjust from the start by the locally elected DC Council, the locally elected DC AG @KarlRacineDC, the @ACLU_DC, the @urbaninstitute, and Yale Law Prof. @jformanjr, to name a few.
(Pretty much everyone, except @MayorBowser.)
Itâs bad enough that a Trump appointed US Attorney can impose a controversial and harmful policy against the express wishes of the local legislature and local electorate in DC.
Lying to the People of DC about what the US Attorneyâs Office is actually doing is ⌠much worse.
Lying to the People of DC about what the US Attorneyâs Office is actually doing is ⌠much worse.
But hereâs the thing: The U.S. Attorney may not answer to the People of DC, but he still works for themâand for all of us. There's a reason we call the U.S. Attorneyâs Office "the Government," after all.
And for a Government to be legitimate it has to be honest.
And for a Government to be legitimate it has to be honest.
The Government failed that test here.
Really, itâs simple: You canât *say* youâre adopting a citywide policy when in fact you are secretly implementing a policy that targets the Blackest parts of a segregated city in order to send hundreds of Black men to prison for more than double the amount of time.
The US Attorney now says in the Post that the policy was changed few weeks ago and that the initial policy was not equitable.
This new position is news to me, to my clients, and to the Court. We're reading this in the Post for the first time.
This new position is news to me, to my clients, and to the Court. We're reading this in the Post for the first time.
If what the US Attorney means to say is that he is ending this unjust and unlawful policy, as we've been urging for months: good. I assume he will ensure that the scores of people "inequitably" prosecuted under the policy over the past 16 months will see their cases dismissed.
But given the striking discrepancies between what the government has said publicly on this issue and what it has later said in its formal filings to the Court, I hope the US Attorney will understand our reserving judgment.
Either way, our hope is that the US Attorney has in fact listened to the Working Group of Black AUSAs in his office who have been sounding the alarm over the policy and urging him to "end" it. He should do that, before the program is deemed unlawful and ended for him.
For those who would like to dig into our legal claim, you can read the reply brief we filed a few days ago here: http://bit.ly/ReedReply
The seven @Harvard_Law student-attorneys who have worked on this case and on all of our briefs over the past year are some of the most impressive lawyers I know. Working with them has been one of the best parts of becoming a law professor.
And of course, our co-counsel at the DC Federal Public Defender's office have been terrific partners.
