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7h ago

D.C. Courts Reel as Trump Crime Crackdown Floods Dockets

Aggressive charging directives from U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro have pushed Washington’s justice system past capacity.

Members of the US Secret Service and FBI detain a man outside the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church in Washington, DC, on August 14, 2025.
From left: FBI Acting Assistant Director in Charge Phillip Bates, US Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro, the head of violent crime and narcotics trafficking for the US Attorney's office David Hancock and Metropolitan Police Department Chief of Police Pamela Smith, during a news conference in Washington, DC, on August 26, 2025.
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Overview

  • Federal filings have jumped to near-daily double digits and Superior Court detainee lists have topped 100, with felony cases now being set as far out as 2027.
  • Prosecutors have been instructed to pursue the most serious charges available and to seek more pretrial detention, elevating lower-level conduct into major cases.
  • Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui rebuked the Department of Corrections for holding a woman nearly 24 hours after his release order and warned that systems are not keeping up with the volume.
  • Grand juries have rejected multiple cases, including a detainee scuffle presented three times and the widely discussed Sean Dunn sandwich case, though prosecutors retain the option to try again.
  • Federal public defenders call the influx a “real mess” and a “nightmare,” citing overloaded caseloads and budget constraints, while court officials warn the situation is unsustainable with 13 judicial vacancies.