Ronald L. Davis, Director of the U.S. Marshals Service
By Dr. Matthew Fogg
I, along with thousands of current and former Black United States Marshal Service (USMS) personnel, am appalled that a full Judiciary Committee Hearing on National Security oversight was held during Black History Month and not one word was mentioned regarding the 30 years of unresolved systemic racism in the USMS rank and file.
The hearing opened with a review of the USMS’s outstanding history and highlighted the accomplishments of USMS Director Ronald Davis, who happens to be Black, and his esteemed credentials. Still, it made no inquiries regarding the millions of dollars facing taxpayers for liability in substantial legal fees, destruction of livelihoods, and the pain and suffering of thousands of Black Americans that have been racially affected for over three decades by the USMS and under the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) supervision.
The hearing, which took place on February 14, should have been the least proud moment for Director Davis. His omission of racially motivated civil rights violations in the USMS as an imminent threat to the safety of Black chief justices, federal judges, prosecutors, court personnel, and law enforcement officers made a mockery of Black History Month and the legacy of Frederick Douglass, the first Black U.S. marshal appointed in Washington DC. The USMS director’s failure to acknowledge the problem is why the aforementioned class action, which was reported by The Washington Post, must now reach the jurisdiction of the DC federal court. Moreover, I will be conducting a press conference near the White House before the November 2024 elections, and I intend to call out President Joe Biden, as I did in January of 2024, in effort to have him address this racial nightmare.
The longest-running open litigation in U.S. history is well documented in letters to Congress, The New York Times, the Congressional Black Caucus, committee hearings, C-SPAN, CBS, and a webpage depicting a 1997 Sunday front-page headline in the New York Post entitled “Bigots With Badges.” My USMS discrimination complaints and class action have (officially) involved seven U.S. presidents and named 12 U.S. attorneys general since 1985.
The class action dates back to 1994 with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, with a potential 10,000 Black claimants alleging a biased deputy U.S. marshal applicant process and non-promotions. According to a 1998 DC federal jury verdict, the USMS fostered a “racially hostile environment” for African American deputy U.S. marshals. Furthermore, the same discrimination coincides with profound internal retaliation, racial profiling, and deadly force against Black and Brown suspects in USMS-led state and municipal dragnet operations.
I respectfully request that all Americans and civil rights organizations urge President Biden and Vice President Harris to personally meet with complainants named in the class action, apologize for decades of DOJ racial discrimination, and make amends before the November elections. Meeting with some of the claimants, which has been proposed by DOJ officials, is not enough. Biden and Harris must meet and speak with every victim of this 30-year campaign of bigotry, which continues to permeate America’s premier law enforcement agency.
Dr. Matthew Fogg served the U.S. Marshals Service for 30 years and received awards from its director and other federal organizations for outstanding service above and beyond the call of duty. He retired with the rank of chief deputy.