In the weeks (I know, it feels like years) since Trump’s inauguration, I have been furiously trying to keep up and keep you informed and up to date about the litany of executive orders and sweeping policy changes that he has tried to enact. As a criminal defense attorney who has spent years fighting for the rights of the accused, I’ve seen my fair share of systemic injustices. However, the actions of the Trump administration, barely a month into its second term, are a gut punch to those of us who believe in accountability, transparency, and the fundamental principle that no one—not even law enforcement—is above the law.
Today, I intend to focus on Trump’s actions that directly impact myself and my community of criminal defense attorneys. The policies emerging from this administration aren’t just a rollback of progress; they’re a deliberate attack on the tools we defense lawyers rely on to protect our clients from an already lopsided system. Let’s unpack a few of these moves and what they mean for our work.
First, there’s the deletion of the National Law Enforcement Accountability Database (NLEAD), a move that hit like a wrecking ball on Day 1 of Trump’s second term. This database, launched under Biden in 2023, was a lifeline for tracking federal police misconduct—think excessive force, racial bias, or flat-out corruption. With nearly 4,800 records documenting misdeeds by over 4,000 officers, it wasn’t perfect, but it was a start.
For defense attorneys like me, it was a critical resource to uncover patterns of behavior when cross-examining federal agents or challenging their credibility in court. Now? Poof. Gone. The White House claims it was tainted by “woke, anti-police concepts,” but let’s call it what it is: a free pass for bad actors to dodge scrutiny and keep terrorizing vulnerable communities. Without this database, we’re back to square one, digging through fragmented records or relying on luck to expose a cop’s history of abuse. Our clients—disproportionately Black, Brown, and poor—pay the price when these “wandering officers” slip through the cracks.
Then there’s Trump’s pardon spree, which kicked off with a bang in January 2025. Two D.C. cops convicted in the 2020 murder of Karon Hylton-Brown, a 20-year-old Black man, walked free thanks to Trump’s pen. This isn’t just a one-off; it’s a signal. Trump’s first term saw him pardon allies like Roger Stone and Michael Flynn, and now he’s extending that largesse to law enforcement who cross the line—especially when their victims are from marginalized groups. For defense lawyers, this sets a chilling precedent. It emboldens officers to act with impunity, knowing a sympathetic president might wipe their slate clean. Meanwhile, our clients face harsher sentences for minor offenses, with no such mercy in sight. The hypocrisy is staggering: the same administration that claims to be “tough on crime” is soft on those who abuse power under a badge.
Whispers from the Department of Justice suggest another blow: staffing cuts driven by Trump’s “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) initiative. While details are still murky as of February 28, 2025, the plan seems to involve hiring freezes and potential layoffs—part of a broader push to shrink federal bureaucracy. For criminal defense attorneys, this could mean a weakened DOJ less capable of investigating federal law enforcement misconduct or prosecuting complex white-collar crimes. Fewer resources might shift focus to low-hanging fruit—street-level drug cases or immigration offenses—where our clients are most likely to be ensnared. Meanwhile, the big fish, including corrupt officials, swim free. It’s a double whammy: less accountability for law enforcement and more pressure on the poorest defendants, all while we scramble to fill the gaps with overworked public defenders.
Trump’s also itching to reverse Biden-era restrictions on transferring military equipment to local police. His first term saw the 1033 program flourish, flooding departments with armored vehicles and assault rifles—tools of war, not peace. Reports from early 2025 suggest he’s already nudging the Pentagon to loosen those reins again. For us in the trenches, this means more militarized raids, more no-knock warrants, and more terrified clients caught in the crosshairs. It’s not just optics; it escalates encounters, making plea deals harder to negotiate and self-defense claims tougher to argue when the state rolls in like an occupying force. Communities of color, already overpoliced, bear the brunt, and we’re left picking up the pieces in courtrooms stacked against us.
Finally, there’s Trump’s cheerleading for artificial intelligence in policing—think predictive algorithms and enhanced surveillance. He’s touted it as a crime-fighting miracle, but for defense attorneys, it’s a nightmare in waiting. AI systems are only as good as the data they’re fed, and when that data comes from a system riddled with racial bias, the results are predictable: more stops, more arrests, more charges against Black and Latino defendants. We’ve already seen cases where faulty facial recognition lands innocent people in jail, and now Trump wants to double down without oversight. Challenging this tech in court is like wrestling a ghost—opaque, unaccountable, and backed by the full weight of the state. Our clients deserve better than to be guinea pigs for Trump’s sci-fi cop fantasy.
These policies aren’t just hurdles; they’re a deliberate dismantling of the fragile progress we’ve made toward a fairer justice system. But we, the community of criminal defense attorneys, are not powerless. We must resist with every tool at our disposal.
We start by organizing—building coalitions with activists, civil rights groups, and tech experts to recreate what the NLEAD gave us, crowd-sourcing data on law enforcement misconduct and making it public. We amplify every pardon, every militarized raid, every AI-driven injustice with relentless storytelling, shining a spotlight on the human cost of Trump’s agenda. We lean harder into litigation, challenging biased algorithms and overreach in court, even when the odds feel stacked against us. And we mentor the next generation of defenders, ensuring they’re ready for this fight—because it’s not just about today, but about the decades of damage this administration could inflict. Together, we can be the firewall against this assault on justice, holding the line for our clients and our communities. They’re counting on us, and we will not back down.
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