“[T]his crime bill does not keep D.C. residents safe,” Kiah Duggins told Fox 5 D.C. in 2024. “It actually just empowers the police and the government to harass and arrest people without probable cause, put legally innocent people in cages, and ... put Black and brown people at risk.” Duggins, who was to begin teaching at Howard Law this fall, was describing Secure D.C. Her words are circulating after her tragic death in the D.C. plane crash.
Community activists like Duggins would go on to win some amendments to the “Crimnibus” omnibus bill. The Movement for Black Lives remembers her as “instrumental” in that fight. Her loved ones and colleagues remember her empathy, kindness, and laugh. She was returning from a family visit at the time of her death.
As a Civil Rights Corps attorney, Duggins challenged unconstitutional policing and bail practices, combatted misconduct, and studied prison abolition, beginning a bright career as a movement lawyer. From capitalist myths about rising crime, to police dogs and slavery, Duggins’ investigations defied the status quo, recentering Black communities ravaged by state violence.
You can even read some of her work online. “What we're asking for -- for real public safety -- is investments into housing, health care, education, [and] other social and economic supports that really actually keep people safe."
Today, the city attributes reduced violent crime to Secure D.C. But as Duggins articulated, more criminalization and incarceration are not what we need, anywhere.