Staging a violent crime Hamlet without the DOJ prince

As discussed here and here, Representative Bobby Scott, Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security, has planned a "Summit on Crime Policy" for later this week entitled "Violent Crime — Prevention and Solutions from the Experts."  A helpful reader sent me a full list of panels and speakers for this event (which I am calling a "Sentencing Lawapalooza").  The list of speakers can be downloaded below, and here the four planned panels:

• Race and the Criminal Justice System
• Juvenile Justice Reform and Early Intervention and Prevention
• Beyond Lengthy Incarceration: Effective Punishment and Reentry into the Community
• Due Process and Habeas Corpus Reform

Download crime_summit_participants.doc

The list of speakers is amazing; more than three dozen leading voices from a broad array of organizations are slated to sharing their insights at this summit.

And yet, as the title of this post indicates, the list of speakers suggests that a very big dog is not going to bark at the summit.  Missing from the event is any apparent official Justice Department representative.  And this omission is especially notable given that, as detailed in this post, Attorney General Gonzales just earlier this month announced a set of new DOJ initiatives for combating violent crime.

I am generally disinclined to assert that DC is a dysfunctional town.  But it is hard to have too much faith in the ways of Washington if indeed a major crime summit goes forward without serious involvement by the Department of Justice.