Karl Racine facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Karl Racine
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| Attorney General for the District of Columbia | |
| In office January 2, 2015 – January 2, 2023 |
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| Mayor | Muriel Bowser |
| Preceded by | Irvin B. Nathan |
| Succeeded by | Brian Schwalb |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Karl Anthony Racine
December 14, 1962 Port-au-Prince, Haiti |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Education | University of Pennsylvania (BA) University of Virginia (JD) |
Karl Anthony Racine (born December 14, 1962) is a Haitian-American lawyer and politician. He made history as the first person to be elected as the Attorney General for the District of Columbia. He held this important job from 2015 to 2023. Before becoming Attorney General, he was a managing partner at a big law firm called Venable LLP. As Attorney General, Racine became well-known for his work on cases related to fair competition among businesses, also known as antitrust matters.
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Early Life and School
Karl Racine was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. When he was three years old, his family had to leave Haiti because of the government at the time. They moved to Washington, D.C..
Karl went to public schools until eighth grade. He then graduated from St. John's College High School. He was a talented basketball player in high school.
He continued playing basketball at the University of Pennsylvania, where he became the team captain. He helped his team win two championships in the Ivy League.
After college, Racine went to the University of Virginia School of Law. While studying law, he helped migrant farm workers through a free legal clinic. He was interested in law because he saw how lawyers helped with civil rights. During law school, he and his mother created the first legal dictionary that translated between Haitian Creole and English. This helped Haitian immigrants in the United States.
Legal Career Highlights
After finishing law school in 1989, Karl Racine started working at Venable LLP. He later worked as a public defender, helping people who couldn't afford a lawyer. He also worked for the Clinton administration at the White House.
In 2000, he returned to Venable and became a managing partner in 2006. This made him the first black managing partner of a top-100 law firm.
He led a team that represented a food services company called Sodexo in a large case. This case involved over 2,500 African American employees who felt they were treated unfairly.
Later, he joined the law firm Hogan Lovells as a partner, focusing on legal disputes.
Serving as D.C. Attorney General
Becoming Attorney General
In July 2014, Karl Racine announced he would run for D.C. Attorney General. Many people supported him.
On November 4, 2014, Racine was elected as the first ever elected Attorney General for the District of Columbia. He won with 37% of the votes.
He ran for reelection in 2017 and won again in May 2018 with 93% of the votes. People thought he might run for mayor in 2022, but he decided not to. He did not seek reelection as Attorney General in 2022.
What He Did in Office
As Attorney General, Karl Racine focused on four main goals:
- Making changes to how young people are treated in the justice system.
- Protecting people from unfair business practices.
- Keeping housing affordable and helping renters.
- Making sure the government works fairly and honestly.
He helped stop the practice of automatically shackling young people in D.C. courts. He also expanded a program that helps young people who have made small mistakes get back on track. This program has been very successful, helping many young lives.
In 2015, he created an Office of Consumer Protection. This office helps teach people about their rights and takes legal action against companies that cheat customers. His office has recovered millions of dollars for the District from companies that did wrong. In 2017, he started the Public Advocacy Division. This group works to keep housing affordable, protect workers from wage theft, and keep the environment safe.
In 2019, Racine's office sued DoorDash. The lawsuit claimed that DoorDash was not giving all customer tips to delivery drivers. DoorDash settled the case, agreeing to make sure all tips go to drivers. They also paid $1.5 million to drivers and gave $250,000 to local charities.
In 2021, he filed a lawsuit against Amazon about fair competition rules. This lawsuit was later dismissed in court. Because of his work on these types of cases, he was considered for a position on the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) by President Joe Biden.
Personal Life
Karl Racine has served on the boards of several community organizations. These include the Legal Aid Society of the District of Columbia and a local literacy group called Everybody Wins.
He has also helped his home country of Haiti. After the 2010 Haiti earthquake, he helped raise $125,000 for relief efforts. He also raised money for a program that helps with education and leadership in Haiti.
Racine lives in Palisades, Washington, D.C. He is dating attorney Kimberly Stietz. They have two sons, Karim (born 2020) and Kayleb (born 2021).
In 2022, the Carnegie Corporation of New York honored Racine with a Great Immigrants Award.
