How the colony of Washington DC lacks control over its justice system

Ann Loikow - 1. Criminal prosecution of violations of D.C. law. The U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, not the D.C. Attorney General, handles the criminal prosecution of Federal and local D.C. crimes committed by adults. In 2022, the most recent complete fiscal year, the US Attorney’s Office declined to prosecute 67% of all MPD arrests (i.e. 52% of felony arrests and 72% of misdemeanor arrests)... DC. is the only U.S. territory that can’t prosecute criminal violations of its local law. Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands all have local prosecutors.

2. The D.C. Court system. Because the Federal government controls the D.C. court system, the President appoints the judges for the local D.C. courts and the nominees must be confirmed by the Senate. As a result, D.C. continually has a large number of judicial vacancies as the President and Congress focus on filling Federal judgeships, not D.C. ones, thus delaying District court cases and justice for District citizens and prisoners.

3. Other critical officials, such as the U.S. Attorney for D.C., the Director of Court Services and the Offender Supervision Agency for D.C. (CSOSA), the U.S. Parole Commissioners, and the U.S. Marshall for the D.C. Superior Court are all Presidential appointees. As a result, we are dependent on the President and the Senate acting promptly to fill any of these vacancies.

4. The Federal government also controls our prison system. Prisoners convicted of violating D.C. law are sentenced to Federal prisons under the jurisdiction of the Federal Bureau of Prisons. As a result, D.C. prisoners can be sent to prisons all over the United States, often far from their families. This makes it difficult to maintain family ties which are critical to successful re-entry into society after one has been released from prison. In addition, because D.C. prisoners are not federal prisoners, they often are denied access to the rehab system available to federal prisoners, which further limits their options when they return after completing their sentences.