Issues & Trends

Washington Lawyers’ Committee Shines Light on Pressing Issues in Policing, Housing & Education

March 05, 2024

By Jeremy Conrad

From left to right: WLC’s Marja Plater, Dennis Corkery, Kelechi Agbakwuru, and Ryan Downer.

The Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs (WLC) recently held a panel discussion at the offices of Arnold & Porter LLP to discuss its Racial Justice Agenda for 2024.

Established in 1968, WLC is involved in efforts to investigate, litigate, and advocate on issues to fight discrimination and sustain inequality. Moderated by WLC legal director Ryan Downer, organization representatives discussed their work relating to policing, housing, and education while spotlighting recent successes.

WLC interim supervising counsel Dennis Corkery talked about the omnibus crime bill currently pending before the D.C. Council. Corkery described the “Secure DC” act as the combination of an array of crime-related bills passed by the council over the past nine months. “We don’t do a lot of policy advocacy,” Corkery said, “but because these issues are so important to the communities we serve, we jumped into playing a larger role than we normally would.”

Corkery said the impetus for the bill has been the spike in violent crime in the District, but “the legislative response is not going to fix the problem, in our estimation,” he added.

According to Corkery, many of the changes introduced in the bill amount to little more than enhanced criminal penalties for preexisting crimes, citing a provision that penalizes the use of a mask in the commission of a crime, as an example. “All data points to the fact that enhanced sentences do not deter crime,” he said.

“There is also enhanced pre-crime detention, although the data has shown that the current violent spike is not being committed by people on pretrial release,” Corkery said, noting that dangerous conditions at D.C. Jail are among the issues the organization is currently litigating. “Health care at D.C. Jail is literally deadly,” he said, “so, more pretrial detention simply amounts to more violence against people while they are awaiting trial.”

Corkery also called the creation of drug-free zones under the Secure DC act as “security theater,” saying it’s another example of enhancements of preexisting crimes by criminalizing the gathering of people for the purpose of committing crimes.

“Our concern is that this will be used to harass people [of color],” he said. “There’s nothing to prevent [Metropolitan Police Department] from arresting people for selling drugs right now.”

WLC and its partners have had some successes in their advocacy work. Expanded warrantless search powers and clauses that would have rolled back measures relating to transparency in policing have both been removed from the proposed legislation. Corkery said that WLC will continue to advocate for measures that attack the root causes of crime, such as poverty and a lack of mental health and social services.

Kelechi Agbakwuru, housing justice counsel at WLC, said substandard housing is one of the significant pressures faced by District residents, describing one building in northeast D.C., the subject of WLC litigation, as an illustrative example. “Unsafe conditions included water leaks, gas leaks, mice and roaches, an elevator shaft that opened to no elevator. [These were] among many other issues these tenants were facing that posed a direct risk to their health and safety every day,” Agbakwuru said.

The issues went unresolved despite resident complaints to the building management and to the D.C. Department of Buildings. Although the building was still not up to code, Agbakwuru said remediation that had taken place since WLC’s lawsuit is proof that litigation is both necessary and effective in compelling compliance. Previously, building management had been content to pay fines and fees rather than invest in the proper maintenance of the property, he said.

“The issue I see with this is that it takes a large effort to bring this sort of campaign together on behalf of a building of about 60 units,” Agbakwuru said. “So, in order to do the work that needs to be done, we need more investment,” including participation in litigation, the provision of brief legal services, political advocacy, and tenants’ rights training for residents across the city.

Education is another significant area in WLC’s efforts relating to public health and safety. Marja Plater, WLC’s John E. Nolan youth justice senior counsel, called education a matter of civil rights. “Since Brown [v. Board of Education], school districts across the country have really struggled to achieve equal educational opportunity for all,” Plater said.

“That’s no different here in D.C. We see inequalities in opportunity based on what ward in D.C. the schools are in,” Plater added. “The city is increasingly resegregating as well, and there are many studies that attribute school facilities to academic achievement … So, we’re seeing students that are subjected to poor school conditions having lower achievement.”

For Plater, access to education is a legitimately effective way to address increased crime rates in the city. “The quality of a young person’s education is really one of the best indicators of their future outcomes,” she said. WLC’s litigation in the 1990s resulted in changes that Plater said have led to some improvement and an increase in dedicated funds for D.C.’s educational system.

“What we’re seeing now, however, is a slip back in the investment in young people in D.C., and because apportionment is not equal across the city, this is an issue of civil rights,” she said. “Most of the students in the D.C. public school system are Black and brown, and they’re more likely to encounter conditions like crumbling school buildings, broken heat, nonfunctioning bathrooms, and extremely long delays in repairs.”

Responsibility for these facilities falls on the Department of General Services, Plater said. “They’re really missing the mark,” she said, noting that a recent auditor’s report was even titled “Multiple Failures in Department of General Services Management of Work Orders.”

Another issue addressed by WLC involves the Office of the State Superintendent of Education’s obligation to offer transportation to and from school for eligible students with disabilities. “That’s been an ongoing issue,” Plater said. “Students that are supposed to get transportation are getting dropped off at the wrong location, they’re being left on buses for long periods of time … buses may not even show up for these students.”

As a result, parents have had to supplement transportation by paying for Uber rides. “It’s a very concerning and systemic issue citywide. D.C. is essentially failing to meet [its] obligations under federal and state law,” Plater said.