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This is a really thoughtful and well written piece from @teamtrace on the Biden administration's hugely disappointing decision to continue a Trump-era policy that is fueling mass incarceration in DC. Well worth a read! Some highlights include... https://www.thetrace.org/2021/04/channing-phillips-dc-gun-possession-charges-federal-court/
Calling out the DOJ's misguided and hypocritical argument that longer sentences will deter crime:
"According to the Justice Department’s own research...prison sentences, particularly long ones, are unlikely to deter crime and in some cases may have an opposite effect."
"According to the Justice Department’s own research...prison sentences, particularly long ones, are unlikely to deter crime and in some cases may have an opposite effect."
Noting that the policy is unsurprisingly NOT reducing crime in the District:
"In 2019, D.C.’s homicides rose another 4 percent despite the new initiative, according to Washington Metropolitan Police statistics, surpassing a recent high in 2015."
"In 2019, D.C.’s homicides rose another 4 percent despite the new initiative, according to Washington Metropolitan Police statistics, surpassing a recent high in 2015."
Focusing attention on the policy's severe and unconscionable racial impact:
"Although Black people comprise 47% of Washington’s population, 97% of people charged from 2013 to 2018 for being a felon in possession of a firearm were Black..."
"Although Black people comprise 47% of Washington’s population, 97% of people charged from 2013 to 2018 for being a felon in possession of a firearm were Black..."
Blasting DOJ's claim that they've recently made the Trump-era policy BETTER by EXPANDING it:
"By expanding it citywide... more Black defendants could be subject to harsher sentences because Black residents were already disproportionately represented in D.C.’s justice system."
"By expanding it citywide... more Black defendants could be subject to harsher sentences because Black residents were already disproportionately represented in D.C.’s justice system."
Highlighting the intense opposition from local elected leaders and local community leaders, including Jumi Olowofoyeku of Ward 8, who says the policy only "creates more tension, creates more violence, and creates more distrust."
And capturing the deep disappointment of civil rights leaders, like Scott Michelman of @ACLU_DC:
"I would have expected a Biden appointee to disavow this policy, to come out strongly against it as racist and an affront to the political self-determination of the people of DC."
"I would have expected a Biden appointee to disavow this policy, to come out strongly against it as racist and an affront to the political self-determination of the people of DC."
As I say in the piece, that disappointment is well warranted. DC deserves better, and this DOJ should know better. I'm still hoping they will undo this awful policy, stop defending it in court, and undo the harm it has caused to hundreds of people in DC. https://twitter.com/teamtrace/status/1379187093868535814
For more on this issue, see this thread: https://twitter.com/AndrewMCrespo/status/1374017197996175361
