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Spotlight: DC AG Karl Racine

Areas of focus since taking office have included:

  1. Prioritizing data-driven juvenile justice reform by developing a diversion program that helps young people get and stay on the right track, which has so far achieved a success rate of more than 80 percent.
  2. Establishing a standalone Office of Consumer Protection within the AG’s Office focused on outreach, education, and legal actions to protect consumers.
  3. Preserving safe and habitable affordable housing in communities across DC.

Professional background: AG Racine was sworn in as the first elected Attorney General of DC in 2015 (the Mayor appointed the AG until 2014). Prior to his election, AG Racine was managing partner at Venable LLP, where he focused his practice on white collar defense and civil litigation. He also worked at the DC Public Defender Service and served as Associate White House Counsel during President Bill Clinton’s first term.

Education: AG Racine earned a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania, where he was captain of the basketball team. He received his J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law. While in law school, he and his mother produced the first Haitian Creole/English legal dictionary.

Personal: Born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, AG Racine and his family fled the Duvalier regime and emigrated to Washington, DC when he was three years old. Outside of his official role, AG Racine is involved with a variety of causes, including youth literacy and mentoring.