I'm a DC resident and no fan of the revised criminal code, but I don't think it's accurate to say "was largely crafted by an independent nonprofit organization: the D.C. Justice Lab." Where does it say that in any of the links?
You state "Sulton’s name does not appear on the website for the Criminal Code Reform Commission, now or in the past." That is factually incorrect. Sulton is listed in the meeting minutes as an employee of the Commission starting AT LEAST as early as April 2018 and those minutes are available on the CCRC's website at: https://ccrc.dc.gov/node/1201597. In addition, Sulton is described as having left employment at the CCRC in the 1/6/21 meeting minutes (https://ccrc.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/ccrc/publication/attachments/1-6-21-Meeting-Minutes.pdf).
Furthermore, there is a group of voting people on the Committee and they're listed on the CCRC's website. If the revised code really was drafted principally by DC Justice Lab (which is far from established and directly contrary to contemporary reporting) where's the accountability for those who were formally appointed to the Commission, who voted in favor of the Draft, and pushed it forward to the Council? Notably, the voting members included a rep from the USAO, who voted yes to advance the CCRC's final recommendations.
It was absolutely a clusterfuck and obviously ill-advised for the USAO rep on the CCRC to vote yes for a set of recommendations they ultimately did not want to see enacted into law. But what does DC Justice Lab have to do with that? And where were the Council members?? Oh right, voting in favor of the CCRC-backed amendments and then ALSO OVERRULING THE MAYOR'S VETO.
First, thank you for the link. That's helpful (sort of!) and I wish you included in your original post above. I never put it together that DC Justice Lab is the same group having crazy twitter responses to Matt Yglesias.
All the more reason to state: I agree with what you're trying to say - DC Justice Lab has bad opinions and is bad. But you include some claims here that are VERY tenuous, if not outright misleading.
First, Ms. Sulton's name does appear on the CCRC's website, multiple times. Your claim to the contrary is wrong. At least here, you should edit. You're wrong, her name does appear.
Second, you didn't say Ms. Sulton wrote the revised code, you said DC Justice Lab did. But that's not correct. The CCRC has been around since 2016 and Ms. Sulton was worked at the CCRC from early 2018 late 2020; the Commission ceased to exist in early 2021. The Council debate was in late 2022. The timing doesn't add up.
Add that to your fundraising "questions" - all from calendar year 2021, when Ms. Sulton was not a CCRC employee.
Perhaps a better argument would be that she represents herself on linkedin as "founder and executive director" of DC Justice Lab starting in 2020.
Or something. But what you've written above is weak sauce.
I'm a DC resident and no fan of the revised criminal code, but I don't think it's accurate to say "was largely crafted by an independent nonprofit organization: the D.C. Justice Lab." Where does it say that in any of the links?
You state "Sulton’s name does not appear on the website for the Criminal Code Reform Commission, now or in the past." That is factually incorrect. Sulton is listed in the meeting minutes as an employee of the Commission starting AT LEAST as early as April 2018 and those minutes are available on the CCRC's website at: https://ccrc.dc.gov/node/1201597. In addition, Sulton is described as having left employment at the CCRC in the 1/6/21 meeting minutes (https://ccrc.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/ccrc/publication/attachments/1-6-21-Meeting-Minutes.pdf).
Furthermore, there is a group of voting people on the Committee and they're listed on the CCRC's website. If the revised code really was drafted principally by DC Justice Lab (which is far from established and directly contrary to contemporary reporting) where's the accountability for those who were formally appointed to the Commission, who voted in favor of the Draft, and pushed it forward to the Council? Notably, the voting members included a rep from the USAO, who voted yes to advance the CCRC's final recommendations.
It was absolutely a clusterfuck and obviously ill-advised for the USAO rep on the CCRC to vote yes for a set of recommendations they ultimately did not want to see enacted into law. But what does DC Justice Lab have to do with that? And where were the Council members?? Oh right, voting in favor of the CCRC-backed amendments and then ALSO OVERRULING THE MAYOR'S VETO.
Overall -- very, very thin.
https://www.washingtonian.com/2023/03/06/dc-criminal-code-overhaul-interview-with-patrice-sulton/
"Patrice Sulton, who helped write the new code, explains everything"
First, thank you for the link. That's helpful (sort of!) and I wish you included in your original post above. I never put it together that DC Justice Lab is the same group having crazy twitter responses to Matt Yglesias.
All the more reason to state: I agree with what you're trying to say - DC Justice Lab has bad opinions and is bad. But you include some claims here that are VERY tenuous, if not outright misleading.
First, Ms. Sulton's name does appear on the CCRC's website, multiple times. Your claim to the contrary is wrong. At least here, you should edit. You're wrong, her name does appear.
Second, you didn't say Ms. Sulton wrote the revised code, you said DC Justice Lab did. But that's not correct. The CCRC has been around since 2016 and Ms. Sulton was worked at the CCRC from early 2018 late 2020; the Commission ceased to exist in early 2021. The Council debate was in late 2022. The timing doesn't add up.
Add that to your fundraising "questions" - all from calendar year 2021, when Ms. Sulton was not a CCRC employee.
Perhaps a better argument would be that she represents herself on linkedin as "founder and executive director" of DC Justice Lab starting in 2020.
Or something. But what you've written above is weak sauce.