Attorney General Racine Names Respected Criminal Justice Leader Tamar Meekins as Deputy Attorney General for Public Safety

Award-Winning Howard Law Professor to Lead OAG Efforts in Juvenile, Adult Cases

Washington, DC – Attorney General Karl A. Racine today announced that he had tapped Tamar Meekins, who most recently served as Associate Professor and Clinical Law Center Director at Howard University School of Law, to serve as Deputy Attorney General for Public Safety.

Ms. Meekins will lead the Office of the Attorney General’s (OAG) Public Safety Division. Attorneys in the division:

  • Prosecute adults who commit certain criminal offenses within the District;
  • Prosecute all juvenile offenses in the District;
  • Work to ensure rehabilitation of juvenile offenders;
  • Advocate for individuals who are victims of crime or who are witnesses to serious crimes by juvenile offenders and some adult offenders;
  • And work with social-service professionals to eradicate nuisance properties across the District that threaten public safety and quality of life by creating blight or serving as havens for illegal activity. 

“Tamar Meekins’ expertise in criminal justice and passion to ensure that prosecution is carried out in a just manner make her perfect for this job,” Attorney General Racine said. “I’m excited that she will help lead our efforts as we continue to build a smarter and more effective system for juvenile justice, fight the scourge of synthetic drugs, ameliorate nuisance properties, and carry out the other law business integral to keeping District residents safe.”

Ms. Meekins has served as a tenured Associate Professor, Clinical Law Center Director, and Supervising Attorney in the Criminal Justice Clinic at Howard Law School since 2002, where she has won awards for teaching and service to the university. She has also served as a member of the faculty at the Harvard Law School Trial Advocacy Workshop and as a Visiting Professor at the American University Washington College of Law and the Seattle University School of Law.

In addition, she has previously served as an attorney in the District’s Public Defender Service and in private practice at Dewey, Ballantine, Bushby, Palmer and Wood.

Ms. Meekins has served as a foster parent for the District of Columbia Child and Family Services Agency, has been a tutor at the Greater Washington Urban League Kids’ Learning Center, and is a founding member of the Greater Washington Urban League Urban Roundtable.

Ms. Meekins earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania and her J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law.