Hogan Lovells appointed Monitor to oversee compliance with policing agreement between DOJ and City of Cleveland

Hogan Lovells Partner Karl A. Racine will lead the monitoring team. Racine served as the first independent, elected Attorney General for the District of Columbia. As AG, Racine represented three DC agencies under decades-long consent decrees—all of which were successfully brought into compliance during his tenure. He currently heads Hogan Lovells’ State Attorneys General practice.

“My team and I are honored to have been selected to serve as the new Monitor, and we are confident that working with the community, the City, and the police, we will be an effective partner in helping all stakeholders come together to implement the terms of the Agreement,” Racine said.

In 2014, the DOJ produced a report concluding the Cleveland Police Department had engaged in a pattern or practice of unreasonable force. While the City of Cleveland did not agree with these findings, the parties entered into a Consent Decree to ensure constitutional policing.

The Consent Decree provides for a Monitor to assist the Court, the parties, and the Cleveland community in assessing the City’s compliance. Areas covered under the Consent Decree include community engagement, bias-free policing, and use of force.

Working with Racine is Hogan Lovells Partner Stephanie Yonekura, global head of the firm’s Investigations, White Collar, and Fraud practice. Yonekura, a partner in the firm’s Los Angeles office, served as Acting U.S. Attorney in Los Angeles before joining the firm.

Other members of the Hogan Lovells team include Courtney Caruso, Senior Associate in the firm’s Boston office and Deputy Monitor in Ferguson; as well as Senior Associate Jay Jones and Senior Policy Advisor Abby Wilhelm (both Washington). Jones worked as an attorney with Racine in the D.C. AG’s office, and Wilhelm served as Racine’s Chief of Staff. All of the Hogan Lovells team members have previous public service experience.