Recent News

CCE is leading a sign-on letter to protect D.C. Courts' funding. For the last four fiscal years, the Courts have managed to maintain core operations with roughly level funding. But now, as the number of criminal prosecutions and civil matters rise, the D.C. Courts are under severe strain to meet the needs of District residents and visitors. Between 2023-25, new civil and domestic relations cases have increased 33%; criminal cases have increased 160%. These increases must be accompanied by budget increases or litigants and the public will suffer.

CCE - along with the ACLU of the District of Columbia, the Georgetown Law Center for Innovations in Community Safety, and DC Justice Lab - sent a letter to the D.C. Council in response to the recommendations of the District's Pre-Arrest Diversion (PAD) Task Force. Our letter complements their efforts and shares concerns that the proposed pilot program is too restrictive and misses an opportunity to create a robust alternative to arrest for people experiencing behavioral health and substance use challenges.

CCE's analysis of July 2026 data shows that the D.C. jail population is over 18% higher than a year ago and has grown by nearly 1,000 people compared to summer 2023. A growing population, driven by longer case processing times, increased prosecutions, and a growing court backlog, increases costs, strains staff, and compromises safety at the jail.

On June 9, the DEIJ Committee of CCE's Board invited Professor Stacy Hawkins of Rutgers Law School to speak to the full board at their semiannual meeting, graciously hosted by ArentFox. Prof. Hawkins is a frequent writer and sought-after speaker on the issue of employment law and diversity.

The Council for Court Excellence (CCE) is proud to announce the selection and hiring of two new Open Horizon Fellows - Dionejala Muhammad and Rachel Hirsch - who will begin their work later this summer. In 2022, CCE became the first organization to partner with Open Horizon to expand the pipeline of public interest attorneys and policy advocates. CCE is proud to continue this partnership and to bring on our fourth class of Fellows in 2026.

Last month, CCE, along with 30+ cosponsoring organizations, hosted substantive and well-attended educational candidate forums for the 2026 D.C. Mayoral and Congressional races.

Burgeoning numbers at jail strains aging facility, DOC budget. As of May 2026, the population of the D.C. Jail is rising again, and is now higher than during the law enforcement surge of the summer and fall of 2025.

In this issue: insights from D.C.'s legal luminaries, strengthening oversight and accountability, advancing second chance hiring solutions, building community engagement through candidate forums and signature gatherings.

CCE, along with 30+ cosponsoring organizations, is hosting educational candidate forums for the 2026 D.C. Mayoral and Congressional races.

Every spring, the Council for Court Excellence (CCE) hosts its Justice Potter Stewart Award Dinner to honor people and organizations that have demonstrated exceptional leadership in advancing justice in the District of Columbia. The 2026 dinner will be held on Thursday, May 21 at the Organization of American States, honoring Sandra Jackson, President and CEO of House of Ruth, and Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights & Urban Affairs. 

In the fall of 2025, CCE released a series of educational fact sheets focused on different aspects of D.C. criminal law, youth justice, courts, and legal systems that are receiving local and national attention.

CCE is proud of the impact we have made in the D.C. community in 2025. Our annual Highlights features some key examples of the work we've done and reports we've published.