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(Washington, D.C.) – Acting Attorney General Monty Wilkinson rescinded former Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ 2017 charging policy which required federal prosecutors to “charge and pursue the most serious, readily provable offense” in a memo today to all federal prosecutors.  The following is a statement from Jon M. Greenbaum, chief counsel and senior deputy director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law:  

“Discriminatory tough-on-crime policies are outdated and need to end. The Sessions approach encouraged prosecutors to pursue harsh strategies that only widened the racial disparities endemic to our criminal justice system. The move by acting Attorney General Wilkinson to direct prosecutors to conduct an individualized assessment when making charging and sentencing decisions is a clean break from the unjust tactics of over-incarceration.”

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About the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law – The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law (Lawyers’ Committee), a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, was formed in 1963 at the request of President John F. Kennedy to involve the private bar in providing legal services to address racial discrimination. The principal mission of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law is to secure, through the rule of law, equal justice for all, particularly in the areas of voting rights, criminal justice, fair housing and community development, economic justice, educational opportunities, and hate crimes.  For more information, please visit https://lawyerscommittee.org.