Issues & Trends

Washington Lawyers’ Committee Shines Light on Pressing Issues in Policing, Housing & Education

March 05, 2024

By Jeremy Conrad

From left to right: WLC’s Marja Plater, Dennis Corkery, Kelechi Agbakwuru, and Ryan Downer.

The Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs (WLC) recently held a panel discussion at the offices of Arnold & 波特澳博app事务所讨论其2024年种族正义议程.

Established in 1968, WLC参与了调查工作, litigate, 并倡导反对歧视和维持不平等的问题. 由WLC法律总监Ryan Downer主持, 各组织代表讨论了他们与警务有关的工作, housing, 以及教育，同时关注最近的成功.

WLC interim supervising counsel Dennis Corkery talked about the omnibus crime bill currently pending before the D.C. Council. Corkery described the “Secure DC” act as the combination of an array of crime-related bills passed by the council over the past nine months. “我们没有做很多政策宣传,” Corkery said, “而是因为这些问题对我们所服务的社区非常重要, 我们开始扮演比平时更重要的角色.”

Corkery said the impetus for the bill has been the spike in violent crime in the District, 但是，“立法上的反应并不能解决问题, in our estimation,” he added.

According to Corkery, many of the changes introduced in the bill amount to little more than enhanced criminal penalties for preexisting crimes, citing a provision that penalizes the use of a mask in the commission of a crime, as an example. “All data points to the fact that enhanced sentences do not deter crime,” he said.

“我们还加强了犯罪前拘留, although the data has shown that the current violent spike is not being committed by people on pretrial release,” Corkery said, 注意到D的危险条件.C. 监狱是该组织目前正在提起诉讼的问题之一. “Health care at D.C. Jail is literally deadly,” he said, “so, more pretrial detention simply amounts to more violence against people while they are awaiting trial.”

Corkery also called the creation of drug-free zones under the Secure DC act as “security theater,” saying it’s another example of enhancements of preexisting crimes by criminalizing the gathering of people for the purpose of committing crimes.

“我们担心这会被用来骚扰(有色人种)，”他说. “There’s nothing to prevent [Metropolitan Police Department] from arresting people for selling drugs right now.”

WLC及其合作伙伴在宣传工作中取得了一些成功. Expanded warrantless search powers and clauses that would have rolled back measures relating to transparency in policing have both been removed from the proposed legislation. Corkery said that WLC will continue to advocate for measures that attack the root causes of crime, 例如贫穷和缺乏心理健康和社会服务.

Kelechi Agbakwuru, 房屋司法顾问, said substandard housing is one of the significant pressures faced by District residents, 解析:选D.C.以WLC诉讼的主体为例进行说明. 不安全的条件包括漏水, gas leaks, mice and roaches, 没有电梯的电梯井. [These were] among many other issues these tenants were facing that posed a direct risk to their health and safety every day,” Agbakwuru said.

The issues went unresolved despite resident complaints to the building management and to the D.C. Department of Buildings. 尽管这栋建筑仍不符合规范, Agbakwuru said remediation that had taken place since WLC’s lawsuit is proof that litigation is both necessary and effective in compelling compliance. Previously, building management had been content to pay fines and fees rather than invest in the proper maintenance of the property, he said.

“The issue I see with this is that it takes a large effort to bring this sort of campaign together on behalf of a building of about 60 units,” Agbakwuru said. “So, 为了完成需要完成的工作, we need more investment,包括参与诉讼, 提供简短的法律服务, political advocacy, 为全市居民提供租户权利培训.

Education is another significant area in WLC’s efforts relating to public health and safety. Marja Plater, WLC’s John E. 诺兰青年司法高级澳博app，称教育是公民权利问题. “Since Brown [v. Board of Education], school districts across the country have really struggled to achieve equal educational opportunity for all,” Plater said.

这在D没有什么不同.C. 我们看到机会的不平等是基于D的哪个病房.C. 学校在这里，”普拉特补充道. “这座城市的种族隔离也越来越严重, and there are many studies that attribute school facilities to academic achievement … So, we’re seeing students that are subjected to poor school conditions having lower achievement.”

For Plater, access to education is a legitimately effective way to address increased crime rates in the city. “The quality of a young person’s education is really one of the best indicators of their future outcomes,” she said. WLC’s litigation in the 1990s resulted in changes that Plater said have led to some improvement and an increase in dedicated funds for D.C.’s educational system.

“What we’re seeing now, however, is a slip back in the investment in young people in D.C., 因为分配在整个城市是不平等的, 这是公民权利的问题,” she said. “D系的大多数学生.C. 公立学校系统是黑人和棕色人种, 他们更有可能遇到像摇摇欲坠的学校建筑这样的情况, broken heat, nonfunctioning bathrooms, 以及长时间的维修延误.”

Responsibility for these facilities falls on the Department of General Services, Plater said. “他们真的没有抓住重点,” she said, noting that a recent auditor’s report was even titled “Multiple Failures in Department of General Services Management of Work Orders.”

Another issue addressed by WLC involves the Office of the State Superintendent of Education’s obligation to offer transportation to and from school for eligible students with disabilities. “这一直是一个持续的问题，”普拉特说. “Students that are supposed to get transportation are getting dropped off at the wrong location, they’re being left on buses for long periods of time … buses may not even show up for these students.”

As a result, parents have had to supplement transportation by paying for Uber rides. “这是一个全市范围内非常令人担忧的系统性问题. D.C. is essentially failing to meet [its] obligations under federal and state law,” Plater said.