The Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency on
Indiana Avenue in the District. (J. Lawler Duggan/For The Washington Post)
By Editorial Board December
30, 2016
“BEYOND BROKEN.” That characterization by then-D.C. Police
Chief Cathy L. Lanier of the District’s criminal-justice system was
dismissed by some as hyperbole. But the truth of her words has been borne out
in excruciating detail over the past year by Post reporters who have chronicled
how repeat violent offenders are released back into the community, only to
commit new crimes. “Where the hell is the outrage?” asked the departing chief —
a question that, more than ever in light of The Post’s revelations, demands to
be addressed by the city and federal officials responsible for the system.
The failings of the mix of local and federal agencies that
comprise the criminal-justice system in the District have been the subject of
examination in The Post’s ongoing “Second-Chance City” series. Lax enforcement by
key federal agencies and questionable judgments from the D.C. Superior Court
were spotlighted in a case in which the release of an offender resulted in a woman being raped.
