Highlighting long-standing inequities in the U.S. criminal justice system, Rachel Rossi, a top Justice Department official said the media has an increasingly urgent role in ensuring that low-income communities and people of color are not denied equal access to essential resources, from proper legal representation to re-entry assistance following incarceration.

Rossi, director of the Justice Department’s Office of Access to Justice, told journalists at the Crime Coverage Summit hosted by the Radio Television Digital News Association and the National Press Foundation, the press was essential to ensuring accountability and transparency in the crucial operations of courts, jails and prisons.

“Simply put, not everyone enjoys the promises and the protections of our laws equally and for us to create meaningful initiatives to close the pervasive justice gap, it is critical for these harms and disparities to be understood and clearly visible both to the communities experiencing them and to the policy makers, leaders and the public and those in positions of power to create change,” Rossi said.

Rossi, a former Los Angeles County public defender who also served as the Justice Department’s first Anti-Hate Coordinator, was appointed to lead the office in 2022 when Attorney General Merrick Garland restored the unit that had been effectively shuttered during the Trump administration.

Rachel Rossi, Photo by: BP Miller/Chorus Photography

In addition to supporting the work of public defenders, the office has advocated for the reduction of fees imposed by state and local courts that can result in eviction, job loss, family separation and sometimes jail time for those who cannot afford to pay.

“We believe that justice belongs to everyone,” Rossi said. “If you can’t access it because of lack of financial resources, the language you speak, where you live or who you are, we simply cannot call it justice.”

Rossi said the media, “as a critical civil institution, can be part of the solution.”

“The media has the power to shape public perceptions about innovation and data-driven justice solutions helping to reinforce and promote policies that improve access (to justice).”

Access the full transcript here.

The 2024 Crime Coverage Summits are sponsored by Arnold Ventures. NPF and RTDNA are solely responsible for the content.