‘It’s a real mess’: DC courts buckling as Trump’s crime crackdown brings deluge of new cases

President Trump’s crime crackdown in Washington DC has led to a deluge of new cases that is buckling the city’s court systems, with judges and public defenders struggling to keep pace. Initiated on August 11, 2025, the crackdown has resulted in over 1,000 arrests, many for minor offenses now charged as felonies, overwhelming the judicial infrastructure. The daily caseload in DC’s Superior Court has doubled, with up to 125 new cases per day compared to the usual few dozen, causing significant backlogs and delays in proceedings. Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui has publicly criticized the system for not keeping up with the volume, noting that defendants are being detained for extended periods without timely hearings, which he described as a failure to protect human dignity. Specific cases highlight the strain, such as a woman held in jail for nearly 24 hours despite a release order, and Darious Phillips, arrested on a gun charge and remaining in custody for five days allegedly on suicide watch without entering a plea. The DC US Attorney’s Office, led by Jeanine Pirro, is pushing for more severe charges and pretrial detention, but this approach has led to issues like failed indictments, including a case where prosecutors could not secure an indictment three times for a sandwich-throwing incident. Defense attorneys report that charges are being elevated from misdemeanors to felonies, and the federal public defender’s office is so overloaded that it is considering outsourcing cases to neighboring states like Virginia and Maryland. They warn that without more resources, they cannot provide effective counsel, risking constitutional violations. Despite a reported 23% drop in violent crime during the crackdown, experts caution that crime reporting lags and arrest figures alone do not measure success, as prosecutions may fail or defendants be found not guilty. The court system is now scheduling felony trials for 2027, indicating that defendants may wait years for resolution, exacerbating jail overcrowding and due process concerns. In response, the Pentagon has sent military lawyers to assist with prosecutions, and Trump has signed an executive order to hire more prosecutors, but the fundamental capacity issues persist. This situation underscores the tension between aggressive law enforcement and civil liberties, with broader implications for urban crime strategies and justice system sustainability under federal intervention.