Criminal Justice

ACLU Cites First Amendment in Letter to D.C. Jail on Book Censorship

February 12, 2012

"A jail full of prisoners quietly reading," said ACLU Senior Staff Attorney Fritz Mulhauser, "is exactly what every warden should want.  But apparently not in the District."

Based on complaints to the ACLU of the Nation's Capital from numerous inmates, the ACLU on January 19, 2012, asked Thomas Faust, Acting Director of the D.C. Department of Corrections, to investigate arbitrary and inconsistent censorship of ordinary books inmates tried to buy from Amazon during 2011.

ACLU-NCA testifies on operation of new disorderly conduct law

February 05, 2012

On February 1, ACLU-NCA Senior Staff Attorney Fritz Mulhauser testified at a DC Council oversight hearing reviewing the implementation of the recently revised statute on disorderly conduct. Our  testimony focused on two problems of overzealous enforcement, involving the "incommoding" and "disrupting public gatherings" portions of the law.

ACLU-NCA opposes mandatory pretrial detention bill

February 05, 2012

On February 3, we opposed Bill 19-485, which would mandate pretrial detention or the use of an electronic monitoring device by any person accused of a crime involving a gun. We pointed out that the bill’s central purpose – removing from the courts the ability to tailor the conditions of pretrial release to fit the defendant – was at odds with the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition of excessive bail.

ACLU Warns DC Council (Again) Against Unconstitutional and Ineffective "Prostitution-Free Zones"

January 26, 2012

The ACLU testified January 24 to the D.C. Council on severe legal weaknesses of the current "prostitution-free zone" (PFZ) law and a new bill that would make them permanent.

Volunteer attorney Rob Gorman, testifying for the ACLU, warned the Council about such laws that make it a crime to loiter under “circumstances” where an officer suspects (but can't prove) that criminal activity may be afoot.

DC Council Passes Three Bills of ACLU Interest

November 23, 2010

On Tuesday, November 23, the D.C. Council passed, on "first reading," three bills of interest to the ACLU.

Over our opposition, the Council passed Bill 18-63, the “Residential Tranquility Amendment Act of 2010,” which would make it a crime for three or more persons to conduct a completely peaceful, quiet, non-threatening demonstration in front of someone’s residence if the demonstration takes place at night, or if the demonstrators wear masks, or if they have not provided the police with advance notice of the demonstration. For more details, please read our letter to the Council on Bill 18-63.  We will try to have amendments introduced at second reading.

The Council also passed Bill 18-425, a comprehensive revision of the District's antiquated disorderly conduct laws. We strongly supported this bill, although we supported a few amendents that were not made.  Details are here.

The Council also passed Bill 18-893, the Anti-SLAPP Act.  A “SLAPP” is a “Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation” -- an abusive lawsuit filed for the purpose of deterring people from participating in public discussion and debate. We strongly supported this bill as well.  Details are here.

'Responding to Gang, Crew and Youth Violence in D.C.: A Blueprint for Action'

September 06, 2010

New Blueprint Builds on Past Successful Anti-Gang Program That Fenty Ended; Injunctions Not Mentioned

From 1999 to 2003, there were 21 Latino gang-related homicides in the Columbia Heights neighborhood.  Then the District of Columbia created the Gang Intervention Partnership. From 2004 to 2006, there was only 1 such homicide.

Unfortunately, the Fenty Administration in 2007 cut funding to the Gang Intervention Partnershp (GIP) and disbanded the MPD Gang Intelligence Patnership Unit.

MPD Resists Reforming Eyewitness ID Procedures, Increasing Wrongful Convictions

September 06, 2010

ACLU-NCA Seeks Support for Best Practices Approach

Thanks to the use of DNA evidence, we know that eyewitness misidentification is responsible for more wrongful convictions in this country than all other causes combined. However, because DNA evidence is available in only limited instances, we’ll never really know how many people have been wrongfully convicted.

ACLU-NCA Attacks New Scheme to Network Surveillance Cameras

September 06, 2010

Another Step Towards Replacing London as Spy Camera Capital of the World

The ACLU-NCA testified against this plan to turn all D.C. government cameras into a Big Brother network, which would use a central war-room to monitor cameras with expanded surveillance capabilities 24/7, because it would be ineffective as well as dangerous, and it would divert funds from real crime-fighting.

ACLU-NCA Says Fenty Administration Anti-Crime Initiatives Trample Rights and Fail to Prevent Crime

September 06, 2010

Ignoring Best Practices, Using PR Gimmicks, Repeating Past Mistakes

ACLU-NCA Executive Director Johnny Barnes testifed before the D.C. Council's Committee on Public Safety and the Jdiciary on June 16, 2008, that the Fenty Administration was engaging in a series of so-called anti-crime initiatives that both violated the constitutional rights of law-abiding District residents and failed to address the problem of crime in the District.

ACLU Letter Rebuts US Attorney's Claims to D.C. Council

September 06, 2010

Protecting D.C. Residents Against Illegal Harassment and Arrest

Current D.C. law on disorderly conduct (section 22-1307 & 1321) is confusing, overbroad, frequently used by police to harass disfavored individuals and violates constitutional rights of free speech, assembly and petition. Councilmember Phil Mendelson, Chair of the Committee on Public Safety and the Judiciary, has proposed a modernization of disorderly conduct law to address these problems in his Bill 18-151. The ACLU-NCA supports the disorderly conduct changes.