On May 19, 2021, Harvard Law School students appeared in federal court to challenge a federal policy in Washington, DC, that doubles prison sentences for people accused of possessing a firearm. The policy has been applied almost exclusively against Black men, and was initially secretly targeted at the Blackest neighborhoods in the city. The case was litigated by students working under the supervision of Professor Andrew Manuel Crespo, Executive Faculty Director of the Institute to End Mass Incarceration.
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- Justice Department Pressed to Stop Charging D.C. Gun Cases in Federal Court, Washington Post (May 19, 2021)
- 87 Ex-Prosecutors Push DOJ to Stop Charging DC Gun Cases Federally, Leading to Longer Sentences, Rolling Stone (May 21, 2021)
- Justice For All, Harvard Law Today (June 9, 2021)
- Criminal Justice Advocates Criticize Biden Appointee Over Federal Gun Prosecutions, The Trace (Apr. 5, 2021)
- Advocates Say How Gun Crimes Are Charged In Washington D.C. Is A Civil Rights Issue, NPR (Apr. 12, 2021)
- Biden Justice Department will continue to push D.C. gun cases to federal court, Washington Post (April 1, 2021)
- The Racist Justice Department Policy That Shows Why D.C. Needs Statehood, Slate (March 22, 2021)
- D.C. crackdown on gun crime targeted Black wards, was not enforced citywide as announced, Washington Post (Sept. 3, 2020)
- D.C. attorney general opposes pushing District gun cases into federal court, Washington Post (April 22, 2020)