Attorney General Racine Mourns Passing of Tamar Meekins, Distinguished Public Servant and Deputy Attorney General

Criminal Justice Expert and Reformer Implemented OAG’s Holistic Prosecutorial Approach

WASHINGTON, D. C. – Attorney General Karl A. Racine today expressed his sadness at the passing of Deputy Attorney General Tamar Meekins, who headed the Office of the Attorney General’s (OAG) Public Safety Division from 2015 until her death on February 19th. At OAG, Ms. Meekins was responsible for overseeing criminal prosecution; advocating for crime victims; processing and rehabilitating juvenile offenders; and combating neighborhood nuisances and slumlords. She pursued justice through creative, progressive reform efforts, guided by a passion to help people get on the right track and prevent the downward spiral of involvement with the criminal justice system.

“Tamar was an outstanding and tireless public servant who worked for more than 25 years to improve the lives of District residents,” said Attorney General Racine. “She believed that a holistic approach to criminal justice reform could benefit everyone — secure justice for victims, safeguard the public, rehabilitate the offender, and prevent future crime. Her unwavering leadership helped transform OAG's culture into one of the nation’s most progressive prosecution offices.”

For more than a quarter century, Tamar Meekins worked to improve the District’s criminal justice system and to ensure that D.C. residents accused of criminal wrongdoing received quality legal representation regardless of their resources. Ms. Meekins worked for over a decade at the nationally-renowned Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia (PDS), where she was a highly skilled and widely respected advocate. After years as a trial attorney, she was promoted to Chief of the PDS Trial Division, where she managed the day-to-day operations of the office’s largest division and supervised more than 50 attorneys. She was also appointed to serve as the PDS Chief of Legal Services; in that position, she coordinated the work of the PDS Trial, Juvenile, Civil, Mental Health, Parole and Special Litigation Divisions.

Upon leaving PDS, she served as the Deputy Director of the Office of Citizen Complaint Review (now the D.C. Office of Police Complaints). In 2001, she joined the Howard University School of Law faculty. At Howard, she taught criminal law-related topics and inspired many of her students to pursue a career in public service.

“Tamar was devoted to her students, and committed to the cause of a more just criminal justice system,” said Danielle Holley-Walker, Howard University School of Law Dean. “Due to her efforts, there are thousands of Howard University School of Law alumni who have been trained to be excellent, ethical criminal law practitioners. Her legacy of hard work, devotion to public service, and love for Howard will live on in these halls.”

Ms. Meekins’ skills as an educator were recognized by Howard Law with the prestigious Warren Rosmarin Award for Teaching and Service. She was also the recipient of the first award at the law school for excellence in service to the university, the law school, and the surrounding community. Beyond the classroom, Ms. Meekins was a supervising attorney in the Howard Law Criminal Justice Clinic, where she trained and supervised students who represented clients in misdemeanor cases in the D.C. Superior Court. As the Director of Howard’s Clinical Law Center, a fully functioning law office within the law school, she played a critical role in advancing the school’s mission to train the next generation of social-justice advocates. Under her leadership, the Clinical Law Center grew significantly and she successfully secured a multi-year, $500,000 grant to create a fair housing clinic.

Ms. Meekins also worked collaboratively with the District of Columbia Superior Court Counsel for Child Abuse and Neglect (CCAN) Office to create a Child Welfare Clinic where students provide vital representation to parents accused of child abuse and neglect. Under her leadership, the Clinical Law Center also expanded to include the Investor Justice and Education Clinic as well as the Intellectual Property/Trademark clinic.

Ms. Meekins educated and trained students and lawyers all across the country. For several years she served as a member of the faculty at the Harvard Law School Trial Advocacy Workshop, where she provided critical instruction on advocacy skills to dozens of law students. She also served as a Visiting Professor at the American University Washington College of Law and the Seattle University School of Law. Ms. Meekins served as the Lead Trainer for the National Defender Training Program, a joint initiative of the American Bar Association and the National Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys. In that capacity, she designed and implemented a comprehensive curriculum on forensic sciences for new and experienced public defenders and assigned counsel. Professor Meekins trained lawyers at the D.C. Public Defender Service, Gideon’s Promise (formerly the Southern Public Defender Training Center), the Georgia State Public Defender Council, and the Louisiana State Bar.

Additionally, Ms. Meekins was an appointed member of the Diversion and Specialty Courts Task Force of the American Bar Association (ABA) Criminal Justice Section Standards Committee, and served as co-chair of the ABA Criminal Justice Section’s Diversion and Specialty Courts Committee. She worked with the D.C. Court of Appeals Board of Professional Responsibility and was an active member of the District of Columbia Bar Association Steering Committee for the Courts, Lawyers and the Administration of Justice Section.

In 2015, Ms. Meekins took a leave of absence from Howard to join OAG and implement Attorney General Racine’s progressive approach to prosecution. In recognition of her extraordinary contributions and transformative leadership, she was given the prestigious “Attorney General’s Award for the Outstanding Head of a Division” in December 2016. In wake of Ms. Meekins’ passing, Attorney General Racine has renamed the award the “Tamar Meekins Award for the Outstanding Head of a Division.”

Ms. Meekins previously served on the Board of the Greater Washington Urban League and as President and Community Service Coordinator of its auxiliary organization, the Urban Roundtable. In that capacity, she volunteered her time as a tutor for elementary children in the Kids Learning Center, a program she helped to develop.

After earning her undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania, where she won several awards and had an outstanding academic career, she earned her law degree from the University of Virginia and launched her legal career in the District of Columbia at the law firm of Dewey, Ballantine, Bushby, Palmer & Wood.

Ms. Meekins was born and raised in Richmond, Va., where she was surrounded by the love of her mother, Annie Maud Shepard Meekins, her maternal grandmother, Berta Mae Shepard, her uncle William Henry Shepard, and her older sister, Harolyn Darlene Meekins. She is survived by her sister Harolyn; her niece Leah Shelby Meekins-Ballance (husband, Joshua Ray Ballance); her great-niece Layla; and her great-nephews, Jordan and Trent . Ms. Meekins is also survived by a host of very dear friends in the Washington, D.C. area and around the country.

The memorial service for Tamar Meekins will be held on Saturday, February 25, 2017, at 3 PM on the campus of the Howard University School of Law in the Dunbarton Chapel, located at 2900 Van Ness Street NW. Friends and family will gather immediately following the service in the Pauline Murray Suite.

Those who wish to share reflections, photos, and expressions of condolence can do so at In Memory of Tamar Meekins(https://www.facebook.com/TamarMeekins/). In lieu of flowers and cards, the family has asked that donations be made to The Meekins Family Children Fund (https://www.gofundme.com/meekins-family-college-fund).