Bring federal charges where local prosecutors decline to
What the document says“Use applicable federal laws to bring federal charges against criminals when local jurisdictions wrongfully allow them to evade responsibility for their conduct.”
The chapter says prosecution in most jurisdictions must remain a state and local responsibility, but that the federal government owes a special responsibility to Americans where state and local prosecutors have abdicated that duty. It asks for an increased federal law enforcement presence in such places.
What the document actually says“Use applicable federal laws to bring federal charges against criminals when local jurisdictions wrongfully allow them to evade responsibility for their conduct.”
Some local prosecutors let people off. Federal law should be used to charge them instead.
Most crimes are charged by local prosecutors. The book says some choose not to charge. It says federal prosecutors should step in.
Additional Measures To Address the Crime Emergency in the District of Columbia
2025-08-25 · 90 FR 42121
Executive Order 14339 of August 25, 2025 puts more federal law enforcement into a jurisdiction the order says has lost control of crime: the Park Police are to hire in the District of Columbia and enforce the DC Code, the United States Attorney for the District is to hire prosecutors focused on violent and property crime, and a specialized federal unit is created that the order says could be deployed in other cities where public safety and order has been lost. That answers the chapter's call for a greater federal law enforcement presence where local authorities are said to have abdicated. The fit breaks down on the proposal's actual instruction: the order does not direct anyone to bring federal charges against criminals whom local prosecutors declined to charge. It rests on a declared crime emergency in the capital and the Home Rule Act rather than on a general charging policy, and deployment to any other city is contingent.
An order of August 25, 2025 sends more police and prosecutors into the capital. It also sets up a unit that could go to other cities. That is the bigger federal role the chapter wants. But it tells no one to bring charges in cases the local side dropped.