Our Mission
DC Justice Lab is a team of law and policy experts researching, organizing, and advocating for large-scale changes to the District of Columbia’s criminal legal system. We develop smarter safety solutions that are evidence-driven, community-rooted, and racially just. We aim to fully transform the District’s approach to public safety and make it a national leader in justice reform.
Our Vision
DC Justice Lab envisions a District that:
Eradicates the root causes of crime and violence.
Ends overreliance on police, prosecutors, and prisons, in favor of solutions that maximize safety and freedom for all.
Treats every person as essential to our community.
Constantly reexamines its rules and practices to ensure they make us safer, freer, and more equal.
Takes dramatic measures to recognize, rectify, and reverse harm it inflicted on poor people and Black people.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:
um that article is about drug gangs not rap.
one thing the media does not discuss enough is the role of organized crime in DC. pandemic school closures drove kids straight to the streets. when you read about 13 year olds with repeated carjacking offenses, you are almost certainly reading about a gang/crew.
I was blocked on Twitter by Chuck a decade ago when I laughed at Mayor Gray sending new trash cans to residents the week before the election. Can someone post the WP link here?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:DC Justice Lab is running the city, running it into the ground. Appalling that they do not even have to declare funders or register as lobbyists when they openly brag about writing entire public safety bills. Mendo coyly referred to a "national group" behind changes to Secure DC, one he declined to name, then popped up at this event. The ED also showed up recently to moderate a debate for JLG. They took credit for the bill Congress stopped and Biden vetoed.
On which ballot was DC Justice Lab elected to be the hidden hand behind the Council? I don't seem to recall...
This habit, that the Council and Mayor have gotten into, of funding their own astroturfing groups to lobby them has gotten out of hand. That they all seem to revolve around the issues and spending that are causing so much trouble is not coincidental.
The crazy thing is that these were the things that got Fenty and Gray in trouble on a smaller scale.
Anonymous wrote:
um that article is about drug gangs not rap.
one thing the media does not discuss enough is the role of organized crime in DC. pandemic school closures drove kids straight to the streets. when you read about 13 year olds with repeated carjacking offenses, you are almost certainly reading about a gang/crew.
Anonymous wrote:DC Justice Lab is running the city, running it into the ground. Appalling that they do not even have to declare funders or register as lobbyists when they openly brag about writing entire public safety bills. Mendo coyly referred to a "national group" behind changes to Secure DC, one he declined to name, then popped up at this event. The ED also showed up recently to moderate a debate for JLG. They took credit for the bill Congress stopped and Biden vetoed.
On which ballot was DC Justice Lab elected to be the hidden hand behind the Council? I don't seem to recall...
Anonymous wrote:
um that article is about drug gangs not rap.
one thing the media does not discuss enough is the role of organized crime in DC. pandemic school closures drove kids straight to the streets. when you read about 13 year olds with repeated carjacking offenses, you are almost certainly reading about a gang/crew.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Excellent article in the economist,"Why is America’s capital so violent?
In most big cities violent crime is declining. In Washington the opposite is true," everywhere else crime is dropping yet in DC it's increasing rapidly. 40% this year alone. Explores the possible reasons. Any one else read it and want to discuss? I think that discussing it is better than pretending that it's not happening at this point....
https://www.economist.com/united-states/2023/10/30/why-is-americas-capital-so-violent
Big city crime data is literally fake. Victims don’t call police, police don’t show when 911 is called, police treat victims like garbage so they don’t call angain, and reports are never written en masse. Plus data juking.
The stats that aren't fake: murder and car theft. DC's are through the roof.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Excellent article in the economist,"Why is America’s capital so violent?
In most big cities violent crime is declining. In Washington the opposite is true," everywhere else crime is dropping yet in DC it's increasing rapidly. 40% this year alone. Explores the possible reasons. Any one else read it and want to discuss? I think that discussing it is better than pretending that it's not happening at this point....
https://www.economist.com/united-states/2023/10/30/why-is-americas-capital-so-violent
Big city crime data is literally fake. Victims don’t call police, police don’t show when 911 is called, police treat victims like garbage so they don’t call angain, and reports are never written en masse. Plus data juking.
Which is say it is far worse than being reported.
Anonymous wrote:Social media is to blame?
. . .
Anonymous wrote:Drugs and gangs are rarely discussed bluntly in DC anymore. "Crews" whatever. It is what drives the majority of homicides.
Kids are often recruited and sent out to commit organized retail theft, steal cars to ship out of Baltimore, etc. Adults are telling them to have victims log into iPhone so bank accounts can be accessed, etc. These young kids are getting weapons somewhere and criminal adults seems like a good possibility. Lax on juvenile laws makes them more targeted.
USAO prosecuted a bunch of the Kennedy St. gang, and a bunch of gang members were arrested on Fairmont yesterday after a crime spree. Have not seen charges for them yet, hopefully USAO won't drop the ball.
And of course, a factor is, who is buying the drugs?