About The Project
Problems at the District of Columbia's Office of the Chief Medical Examiner: A Recommendation for Structural Reform, released in March 1998. DC Appleseed found that the effectiveness of the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) was hampered by its (1) low staffing levels and (2) management by the Department of Health (DOH), which has little expertise in, or responsibility for, the District's criminal justice system. In FY 1999, OCME staffing levels were increased. In June 2000, the D.C. Council enacted legislation -- drafted in part by DC Appleseed -- making the District's OCME independent from the D.C. Department of Health, to enable the OCME to attend to its criminal justice and public health functions effectively.
