Recently, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights published a report titled “Federal Efforts in Examining Racial and Ethnic Disparities among Victims of Violent Crime.” The report was originally proposed by two Republican members of the Commission—Commissioners Peter Kirsanow and Christian Adams. They wanted to highlight the fact that African Americans are disproportionately victimized by serious crime. In turn, they hoped that policymakers would take that fact into account when they are asked to slash police budgets or reduce police presence in low-income African-American neighborhoods. But those points were lost in the ultimate report. Instead, the report is diluted with progressive talking points and numerous protestations asserting that while crime did increase in 2020-2022, it’s still lower than it was in the 1990s—though that’s little comfort to the families of the victims of violent crimes. Commissioner Gail Heriot’s individual Commissioner Statement brings the report back to its original purpose.

The Commission’s press release asserts that “[t]his report was undertaken in response to the Commission’s commitment to addressing the deep-seated inequities that persist within our criminal legal system.” In fact, however, it was very difficult to get the Commission to undertake this project at all. The Democratic appointees were strongly opposed to it and used every available means to prevent its adoption. Commissioner Christian Adams’s individual Commissioner Statement details that struggle.

The oddest aspect of the report is the Vice Chair’s Rebuttal Statement. In it, she attacks Commissioner Adams for highlighting race disparities in victimization and the net negative effect of progressive policies on African-American communities, implicitly comparing Adams to “racist Governor George Wallace” and asserting that, “MAGA Republicans are following a very old playbook in American politics: use crime rates to race-bait.” Both Commissioner Adams and Commissioner Heriot respond to this criticism.

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