Hecker Fink Files Amicus Brief on behalf of Former Civil Rights Division Officials and Gun Violence Prevention Organizations in United States v. District of Columbia et al.

On Friday, March 27, 2026, Hecker Fink LLP filed an amicus brief on behalf of Former Civil Rights Division Officials, Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, and Giffords Center to Prevent Gun Violence in United States v. District of Columbia et al., 25 Civ. 4458 (D.D.C.), where the Department of Justice has brought suit under 34 U.S.C. § 12601 to challenge D.C.’s longstanding ban on the use and possession of assault weapons.

Hecker Fink’s amicus brief, which can be read here, explains how Congress originally conceived of § 12601 primarily as a way to remedy specific forms of police misconduct—such as the use of excessive force against civilians and discriminatory treatment of disfavored groups—that are traceable to institutional shortcomings within police departments, rather than as a vehicle for bringing facial challenges to state or local laws.  The brief further outlines how the Civil Rights Division had historically adhered to that same understanding of the statute in its enforcement practices, and how the present suit starkly departs from that norm. Finally, the brief underscores how responsible enforcement of the pattern-or-practice statute requires a baseline level of investigative diligence that the Division failed to undertake here.

The Hecker Fink team includes Trisha Anderson, Nic Riley, Stephen Prifti, Zechariah Brown, Andrew Howell, and Tara Davoodi.