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Loretta Lynch Publishes Op-Ed in The Hill on Omicron and Criminal Justice
February 13, 2022
Litigation partner Loretta Lynch wrote an op-ed in The Hill, “Omicron is creating new havoc in our criminal justice system,” with former U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. In the piece, the authors examine improvements in the criminal justice system in the year since their National Commission on COVID-19 and Criminal Justice report put forth a set of sweeping solutions, as well as renewed stresses on the system over the past three months.
“Omicron is causing renewed disruptions, with detainees at New York’s Rikers Island jail protesting what they call dangerous conditions, and California prisons reporting a ‘staggering rise’ in infections among employees,” the authors write. “Systemwide, prison and jail populations that had been safely reduced to contain the virus are rebounding, posing renewed risks to incarcerated people and staff. And in our courts, operations have been slowed by crushing case backlogs.”
Challenges like these “are clear signals that we must do more to meet this moment — and ensure our post-pandemic system is better equipped to balance health, safety and justice for all,” they add.