Washington Lawyer - July/August 2024 - 5

YOUR VOICE
TRANSPARENCY IN SURVEILLANCE
It was disappointing to read quotes about the
U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) in the article " RealTime
Crime Surveillance: At What Price for Safety? "
(May/June 2024 issue). A call to my office
would have clarified that, contrary to what Monica
Hopkins of ACLU-DC alleged, the locations of
USCP cameras do not need to be provided to
the defense since footage from the cameras is
regularly provided to both the prosecution and
defense.
In hundreds of criminal prosecutions, including
the January 6th and DUI prosecutions every
year, the USCP provides footage to the prosecutors
and fields requests from defense counsel
(via those same prosecutors) for other footage
based upon the location of an offense. I am unaware
of any case where a request for footage
related to a criminal matter was denied. Moreover,
our retention policies are quite clear: Footage
is preserved for 30 days unless it is needed
for a criminal matter, or unless a request is made
to preserve the footage within 30 days of an
event. I would have expected Washington Lawyer
to have given the USCP a chance to respond.
Thomas A. (Tad) DiBiase
U.S. Capitol Police
Washington, D.C.
NO MENTION OF CURRENT
WAR CRIMES
I very much enjoyed the cover article on Eli
Rosenbaum and his pursuit of Nazis and other
war criminals in the May/June issue. While the
postscript about the pursuit of war crimes committed
by the Russian military is great, the lack of
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any discussion of documented war crimes being
carried out by the Israeli military is a very concerning
omission. I'm sure you don't need me to
recount the International Court of Justice's order
regarding prevention of genocide in Gaza; the
vast civilian casualties that have already accrued,
particularly of children; and the resulting famine
and mass starvation " directly attributable to
[Israeli] military operations, " according to a
March 2024 Human Rights Watch Report. To run
a cover story about the " relentless pursuit of war
criminals " without a discussion of the war crimes
going on at this very second is troubling and
discrediting. I write this as a Jewish member of
the D.C. Bar who grew up in the D.C. area.
Elliott Becker
Labor Lawyer
Washington, D.C.
ANOTHER PATH TO OVERSEAS WORK
I enjoyed reading " Going International: Pathways
to Overseas Assignments " by Kathleen Troy in
the May/June edition of Washington Lawyer, but
as a retired U.S. Navy judge advocate, I am compelled
to point out that the author neglected to
include in the article any mention of military
attorneys - both uniformed and civilian -
many of whom serve overseas during their careers.
Indeed, as a military attorney, one is probably
much more likely to get to work overseas
than as a junior associate in a Big Law firm with
an international office, one possibility mentioned
in the article. I served in Europe for a total
of nearly five years over two separate assignments,
as well as visiting numerous foreign
countries as a judge advocate aboard a U.S. Navy
aircraft carrier and taking on various temporary
duty assignments. I have many colleagues who
have spent much more of their careers abroad
than I did. One great way to practice law while
living overseas (and serving one's country) is to
practice law in the Armed Forces.
Edward S. White
Former Senior Counsel for National Security,
U.S. Department of Justice
El Puerto de Santa María, Spain
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JULY/AUGUST 2024 * WASHINGTON LAWYER 5
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Washington Lawyer - July/August 2024

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