Incarceration Reduction Amendment Act recipients enjoy spending time together in a local DC park in June 2021. (Photo courtesy of Anthony Petty)

Anthony Petty, James Carpenter and Shannon Fyfe: Courts need to bring IRAA and Second Look applicants home to DC in the interest of justice

By Commentary On Oct 25, 2021 Last updated Oct 24, 2021

In cities across the United States, local government officials are worried about rising violent crime, and DC is no exception. In addition, pandemic-related court backlogs have led to claims that the courts are not working fast enough, thereby allowing repeat offenders to remain on the streets and creating a public safety crisis.

Against this backdrop and amid continuing COVID-19 concerns, the DC Superior Court has decided not to allow more than a handful of people serving time in the federal system to come back to DC this year to await early release hearings. In the past, individuals in the federal system could request that Superior Court judges authorize their return to the DC Jail while post-conviction litigation was pending. Judges had discretion over whether to approve these transfers, but in our experience most were granted.

Anthony Petty is an Incarceration Reduction Amendment Act recipient and core team member of Neighbors for Justice.

This new policy, which bars Superior Court judges from authorizing most transfers of this sort, has serious consequences for those unable to return to the DC Jail. To better serve incarcerated individuals and the DC community, we must welcome people back to the District.

DC residents convicted of a crime and sentenced to longer than a year of incarceration are sent to federal prisons across the country, far away from their family, friends and legal representation. This is because DC does not have its own prison; it relies on the Federal Bureau of Prisons to house individuals convicted of felonies. The DC Jail houses residents awaiting trial or serving time for misdemeanors.

With the passage of the Incarceration Reduction Amendment Act (IRAA) in 2016, people who were under 18 when convicted and have served at least 15 years of their sentence became eligible to apply to have their sentences reconsidered. The ability of IRAA applicants to come back to the DC Jail facilitates their access to the legal system. (Two of us, Anthony and James, were IRAA recipients in 2020.)

In December 2020, the DC Council passed the Second Look Amendment Act (Second Look), which provides the same opportunity for sentence reduction to people who were under 25 when convicted. Bringing these applicants back to the DC Jail will benefit both the community and our returning citizens.

First, justice demands that we welcome IRAA and Second Look applicants home to DC. People who are awaiting a hearing need to have access to their lawyers and others supporting their application, including mental health professionals, mitigation experts and community members. James, for instance, had numerous in-person meetings with his attorney at the DC Jail leading up to his IRAA hearing in early 2020, while Anthony never saw his attorney in person until he was transported to the DC Jail.

It has been especially hard to access legal counsel and experts during the pandemic, as they are not able to travel to federal facilities as frequently as they can visit the DC Jail. And since the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia continues to universally oppose IRAA applications, applicants need to have as many advocates as possible able to participate in the legal process. Otherwise, IRAA and Second Look applicants will be denied their due process rights.

Shannon Fyfe is an assistant professor of philosophy at George Mason University, a fellow at the Institute for Philosophy and Public Policy, and a founding member of Neighbors for Justice. (Photo by Creative Services/George Mason University)

Second, the DC Jail has better resources for supporting returning citizens than do most federal institutions. Individuals awaiting hearings are usually housed together, which reduces opportunities for violent interactions with residents who lack the same incentives to keep their records clean. The programming at the DC Jail is also exceptional, with much of it actually created by individuals who had returned from the federal system to await hearings. Both of us (Anthony and James) benefited not only from being home in DC while awaiting our hearings, but even more from the education, training and mentoring programs that were available at the DC Jail. There, we were made to feel as if we were part of the DC community again and were called “returning citizens,” whereas in the federal system we were referred to as “convicts.”

We were also able to take advantage of training in copper cable and telecommunications, and James participated in the Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program with American University. Anthony became a mentor in the Young Men Emerging (YME) program, took courses offered by Georgetown University, and even received a job offer while in the DC Jail. The YME program was founded by two Second Look applicants, Joel Castón and Michael Woody. Castón is now serving as an advisory neighborhood commissioner, and is believed to be the first incarcerated person to be elected to office in DC. Woody is the first Second Look applicant to be released. Castón’s application is still pending.

These programs were invaluable, and much better than programming we had available to us at federal institutions. We felt that the federal system was focused solely on warehousing individuals until their sentences ended. The DC Jail is geared toward rehabilitation — in large part due to the influence of IRAA and Second Look applicants, as well as administrators’ support of educational opportunities.

This also benefits the community as a whole. Returning citizens are immersed in DC culture while at the DC Jail, which was crucial for our own transitions when we returned home. Being there allowed us to feel a connection to our community, see our families, prepare for life after release, and develop a sense of why we didn’t want to go back into the federal system.

IRAA recipients like us are making a difference in the DC community today, working with youth to interrupt violence, contributing to the District’s economy, and spending long-awaited time with friends and families. Our time at the DC Jail was an important part of that journey. The District has already shown commitment to bringing us home by passing IRAA and Second Look; now, let’s show our commitment by bringing incarcerated individuals to the DC Jail first.

James Carpenter and Anthony Petty are Incarceration Reduction Amendment Act recipients and core team members of Neighbors for Justice, a local organization founded in 2020 to support individuals who are incarcerated at the DC Jail.

Shannon Fyfe is an assistant professor of philosophy at George Mason University, a fellow at the Institute for Philosophy and Public Policy, and a founding member of Neighbors for Justice.

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