DC's unelected prosecutor:
- Declined to prosecute 1/3 of gun cases
- Dropped 37% of charged cases
- Reduced 50% of convictions to just misdemeanors, usually by offering generous "golden ticket" plea bargains
If we want to tackle gun violence, we need a new U.S. Attorney. (1/
I have refrained from calling for USA Graves' removal until now. This new gun prosecution data was the breaking point.
Compared to 2018, the USAO is securing less than half as many felony convictions for Carrying a Pistol Without a License.
This is a policy choice. (2/
The new data is from the excellent DC Sentencing Commission Annual Report. Their work is rarely covered by DC media, which has helped the USAO erode prosecution in DC without accountability. (3/
scdc.dc.gov/sites/default/…
The report gives an overview of prosecution and sentencing trends:
- The USAO finally started charging more felonies; but only AFTER public pressure
- Felony convictions actually FELL as the USAO pled down more cases to misdemeanors
- Judges follow the sentencing guidelines (4/
Despite the USAO's boasts that they are winning convictions with "thousands of years" of prison sentences, they are actually securing 36% fewer felony counts than just a few years ago.
The USAO consistently plays up large-sounding numbers out of context to spin the media. (5/
The drop in prosecutions is across all categories, with an especially sharp collapse in drug convictions. This has been great for DC's violent gangs/crews who are responsible for many shootings and are "heavily engaged in narcotics sales." (6/
The only thing that minimized the decrease in weapons convictions is that MPD has dramatically increased their arrests for gun possession.
The USAO has undermined this effort by declining, dropping and pleading down far more cases than just a few years ago. This is a choice. (7/
Not only is the USAO's gun prosecution "filter" worse than it was a few years ago, it's worse than even "progressive" prosecutors like the DA in Manhattan.
The USAO is choosing to decline to prosecute & offer more generous plea bargains far more often than other prosecutors. (8/
When the USAO pleads down a felony gun possession charge to a misdemeanor it often involves NO jail time like this example: (9/
Here's someone caught with a de facto machine gun (a pistol with a Glock converter that flips it to fully automatic) where the USAO proactively offered a misdemeanor-only plea bargain: (10/
It's also deeply disturbing that the USAO has a much higher prosecution rate for gun possession in DC's wealthiest wards. One wonders if they also go easier in terms of dropping and pleading down cases in DC's poorer wards as well. (11/
"Gun prosecution data" isn't some esoteric topic...it's directly related to the single biggest crime problem in DC today.
Guns are used in 84% of homicides and shootings are by far the greatest source of terror in DC. This matters. (12/
The USAO's lax enforcement of DC's gun laws have made us safer in 3 major ways: (13/
This dysfunctional dynamic is exactly how the average homicide suspect in DC has been arrested ~10 times but only 40% have ever served a prison sentence.
The USAO is functionally giving these suspects 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th chances. (14/
Everyone involved in fighting gun violence knows the USAO is a big part of the problem.
DC has been fighting gun violence with one hand tied behind our back because the USAO declined, dropped or pled down 2,262 gun cases over the last 2 years. (15/
The USAO's steady erosion of felony prosecutions correlates extremely well with DC's rising homicide rate. "is the USAO vigorously prosecuting felonies?" is a strangely under-covered explanation for DC's murder problem. (16/
On its own, the USAO’s failure to vigorously prosecute gun crime at a time of unacceptable levels of gun violence should be a scandal.
What adds insult to injury is the USAO’s practice of gaslighting the general public about the issue. (17/
It’s shocking that the man who has overseen the USAO hitting record-low prosecution rates & mass plea bargaining of gun crimes down to misdemeanors has the gall to blame other people for the “myth which has grown in recent years that there are no consequences for anything.” (18/
USA Graves has been able to get away with this "we're all trying to find the guy who did this" act because the media largely doesn't cover the USAO not doing their job.
There are no press conferences & the data is hidden in lengthy reports that few people read. (19/
The broken situation at the USAO is undermining even the DOJ's "surge" of resources to fight violent crime in DC.
Because the "screeners" at the USAO continue to decline to prosecute viable cases a ton of MPD and Federal law enforcement effort goes to waste. (20/
USA Graves has had 2 years to fix the USAO's problems. In his first year the prosecution rate hit a record low & he only increased prosecutions under pressure.
Then the USAO got even more lenient with gun case plea bargains when no one was looking. It's time for a change. (21
Leaders at the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Biden administration should be horrified by this.
USA Graves is not uniquely needed in this role and the DOJ has the options, the authority and a multitude of easy cover stories to make a change. (22/
How to get from public fury over prosecutions to change at DC’s unelected prosecutor office is difficult but we need to try.
This isn’t an organizing blog but here are some basic steps people can take to demand a new U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia:
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