DC Justice Lab

Nearly every facet of the criminal legal system reveals the impact of racial bias: 93% of people sentenced in DC are Black; more than 90% of searches are of Black people; child and adult corrections facilities are almost entirely Black. Locally, the ripple effects from decades of aggressive policing and mass incarceration – social oppression, erosion of constitutional rights, stagnation or decline in economic mobility, dissolution of family structure, neighborhood decay, and multigenerational trauma have largely been borne by DC’s Black residents. So DC Justice Lab takes a forward-thinking approach. It focuses on writing model laws that will create fair and racially balanced reforms in policing, prisons, and the judicial process. Forging policies that center the interests, concerns, and capacities of native Black Washingtonians also creates opportunities for residents to participate meaningfully, not just in policymaking but across our shared public life.