WASHINGTON — Outgoing Attorney General Eric Holder Friday announced a set of new juvenile justice reforms designed to reduce the number of minority underage Americans in the criminal justice system, pledging to continue working on the issue even after he leaves the Department of Justice.
"Although my time at the Justice Department will draw to a close in the coming months – once my successor has been nominated and confirmed – I want you to know that my commitment to this work will never waver," Holder said Friday morning at a gathering of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation's Annual Legislative Conference in Washington.
The Smart on Juvenile Justice initiative is public private partnership the Obama administration hopes will "promote system-wide reform and bolster our efforts to end racial and ethnic disparities," Holder said. The efforts are part of President Obama's My Brother's Keeper program, details of which the president is expected to expand on Saturday night to the group.
The partnership will use funding from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention in combination with the Pew Charitable Trusts Public Safety Performance Project to increase opportunity and to reform and lessen juvenile contact with the criminal justice system, Holder said.
The partnership is targeting communities in Georgia, Hawaii and Kentucky.
His remarks came before a panel on voting rights hosted by Rep. Marcia Fudge. Panelists included Marc Morial, CEO of the National Urban League and Sherrilyn Ifill, President and Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc.
Holder received a warm applause and was introduced by Fudge. "I have no intention of letting up or slowing down," he said. I am honored to discuss our ongoing efforts with you once again today. And I am proud, as ever, to stand with so many dedicated public servants, devoted advocates, and passionate leaders of our ongoing fight for equal rights and equal justice."