District Task Force on Jails & Justice

When it comes to the District’s current jail and approach to incarceration, there has to be change. Indeed, there is agreement from all corners of the city – including residents, advocates, and government leaders alike – that the status quo isn’t succeeding in keeping everyone safe and healthy or stopping the cycles of crime and incarceration. But understanding exactly what that change could and should be is a big job: that is why CCE established the District Task Force on Jails & Justice (Task Force) in 2019.

CCE continues to serve as the convener of and principal researcher for the Task Force, which is an independent advisory body dedicated to redefining the District’s approach to incarceration by building citywide engagement, centering the voices of those with lived experiences, understanding community priorities, and exploring the use and design of secure detention and community-based solutions.

Who is involved with the Task Force?

The Task Force is a distinguished and interdisciplinary group that includes community leaders who are directly impacted by jails, organizations that work to serve currently or formerly incarcerated people, government leaders, research and policy experts, and other civic leaders. In addition to its official members, the Task Force offers ample opportunities for other residents, advocates, and experts to share their views and be engaged in the data-gathering and recommendation-making processes.  

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How the Task Force Developed Its Recommendations

To make its wide-ranging recommendations, the Task Force has engaged over 2,500 D.C. residents, including people who are currently incarcerated in the D.C. Department of Corrections and the federal Bureau of Prisons, to understand their priorities related to community investments, safety, incarceration, and reentry. It studied D.C. jail data and other jurisdictions’ reform efforts to redefine the District’s approach to the criminal legal system generally and incarceration specifically.

Based on this diverse information and the members’ own expertise, the Task Force developed 80 recommendations and a ten-year plan for overhauling the District’s jails and justice system. Recognizing that D.C.’s Black residents are overrepresented at each stage of our criminal justice system, the Task Force explicitly targeted its recommendations to help end the over-criminalization of Black people in the District.

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How You Can Help

Join CCE and the Task Force in calling on D.C. leaders to prioritize a new facility to be built by 2025 that can house all DOC residents in a safe and rehabilitative environment. Ask your elected officials to enact the Task Force’s transformative reforms that were developed with input from people across the District focused on alternatives to incarceration and community investments to shrink the District’s reliance on jails and prisons. These will not only ensure community safety and prosperity, but will make our criminal legal system more equitable.

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Publications and Resources

• Statement Disapproving of D.C.’s Proposed Jail Plan
• Jails & Justice: Tracking Change – A Report Card on the District Task Force on Jails & Justices Phase II Recommendations
• Jails & Justice: Our Transformation Starts Today – Phase II Findings and Implementation Plan
• Jails & Justice: A Framework for Change – Phase I Findings and Recommendations of the District Task Force on Jails & Justice