For years, I’ve (Stimson) been writing, speaking, and even testifying before Congress on D.C.’s problems and how to fix them. Now, national leaders are finally shining a spotlight on the ever-present and persistent crime problem in our nation’s capital.
But while they work to fix D.C.’s dysfunctional system, they should also build a permanent D.C. U.S. Attorney’s Office building—one fitting for the occasion—and connect it to the two courthouses where cases are prosecuted, the D.C. Superior Court and the U.S. federal district court for the District of Columbia.
Believe it or not, the D.C. U.S. Attorney’s Office has moved from location to location over the years. Unlike most prosecutors’ office buildings, which are connected to the courthouse and are meant to house the chief prosecutor, the D.C. United State’s Attorney occupies leased space controlled by the federal government’s landlord, the General Services Administration.
For decades, the office was located five blocks from the courthouses—at 555 4th Street, NW, Washington D.C. But a few years ago, the GSA decided to move the office to the old Patrick Henry Building, a smaller, generic office building a block from D.C. Superior Court and two blocks from federal district court.
If anyone in the GSA possessed an ounce of common sense and/or the entrepreneurial spirit of a developer, they would have recommended building a brand new D.C. U.S. Attorney’s Office building designed for the express purpose of housing federal prosecutors. They would have placed that building in the open grassy space between D.C. Superior Court and the federal district court.
But it seems common sense is not common, so they treat the nation’s largest prosecutors like Bedouin college students who move from crash pad to crash pad every so often.
Fortunately, President Trump is a master builder and developer. And Attorney General Pam Bondi, the former elected State’s Attorney for Hillsborough County, Florida, is certainly familiar with why it is important to have a dedicated permanent space for the prosecutor’s office and have that next to the courthouse.
Using a standard AI tool, we created a rendering of a permanent U.S. Attorney’s Office building for the District of Columbia and connected it to the D.C. Superior Court and the federal district court. It has the room to accommodate 330 prosecutors, 100 investigators (they currently have three), and support staff.
There are practical reasons for connecting prosecutor’s offices to courthouses. Prosecutors need to be able to access their office building quickly and frequently. They need to be able to access the courthouse easily and quickly.
Right now, in D.C., prosecutors must stand in line with defendants and witnesses with all of their exhibits, documents, and other material for trial, regardless of the weather.
During trial, prosecutors need to access their offices to prep witnesses, make phone calls, update direct and cross-examination, and work during breaks in trial.
Right now, prosecutors have to depart the courthouse, walk to their offices outside, rush to get things done, and then stand in line to go through security to get back to the courtroom before trial begins again. This is just plain stupid—and it’s a waste of time.
Not surprisingly, in cases involving gangs and violent crime, some witnesses are reluctant to be seen by the defendant until they have to take the stand. But right now, these witnesses have to stand in line outside the courthouse with prosecutors, defendants, members of the public, the press, and everyone else in order to be screened by security to get into the courthouse. This needlessly endangers those witnesses.
When the office eventually hires professional investigators to assist prosecutors (which would simply bring it up to par with other big city prosecutor’s offices), it only makes sense for those investigators to be able to access their office in minutes to address the time-sensitive matters that always come up at trial.
Not having a prosecutor’s office connected to both courthouses in D.C. hinders the ability of prosecutors to do their job effectively and efficiently. When you combine that with the inane dysfunctional criminal justice system that favors criminals and treats the police like dirt, it’s not surprising that many well-meaning prosecutors leave the office in disgust.
A new building like the one we propose can and should be part of Trump’s Make D.C. Beautiful Again program.
To us, it’s a no-brainer.