On Tuesday, the NAACP and other civil rights groups urged President Biden to pardon Marilyn Mosby, a former state’s attorney for Baltimore, Md.
Mosby got convicted in February for falsely applying for a mortgage to get a lower interest rate. This conviction came after a previous conviction in November 2023 for two counts of lying under oath about withdrawing money from the City of Baltimore’s Deferred Compensation Plan. She could go to jail for up to 40 years.
In a letter to Biden, the NAACP and 14 other groups argued that Mosby was unfairly targeted and convicted by the Trump Administration’s Department of Justice.
“We are deeply concerned that the last administration misused their power to bring a baseless indictment against Ms. Mosby, and what’s worse, the current administration’s U.S. Department of Justice ignored the clear political motivation behind the unfair prosecution of Ms. Mosby,” the letter says.
The groups claim that federal officials, including former President Trump, went after Mosby because of her dedication to accountability and racial fairness.
In February 2020, former Attorney General William Barr criticized prosecutors like Mosby in a speech to law enforcement.
After George Floyd was killed by police, Mosby often appeared on national TV and in newspapers as an expert on police misconduct and prosecutions. When Trump threatened to send federal agents to Baltimore in July 2020, Mosby said she would prosecute any agents who unlawfully targeted Baltimore citizens.
In August of that year, Mosby found out she was under federal investigation, which the letter says was widely seen as payback for her brave defense of her constituents’ constitutional rights.
According to the letter, Mosby was wrongfully convicted in November. Although the DOJ claimed she didn't need the money she took from the retirement plan because she was still getting her full salary, the NAACP and other groups argued that she did meet the standard to qualify for the withdrawal.
The letter also states that while 739 people withdrew money from their retirement accounts without facing charges for improper withdrawals, including three within her agency, Mosby was the only one charged. Furthermore, she was denied the chance to present evidence and testify.
Her February conviction was based on incorrectly reporting a $5,000 “gift” on a mortgage application. The letter to Biden argued that during the trial, experts confirmed that Mosby had been given improper advice.
The letter concludes that the financial implications are much smaller than the Department of Justice’s usual million-dollar threshold.
“We expect that the political persecution and unfair prosecutions from the Trump Administration will not continue under the Biden Administration,” the letter says. “Ms. Mosby’s case is not an isolated one — it is the latest and one of the most extreme cases. This issue should be addressed because it is a miscarriage of justice and an example of the previous administration’s abuse of power.”
The letter was also signed by Black to the Future Action Fund, Black Voters Matter, Black Women’s Roundtable, Color of Change, Fair and Just Prosecution, National Action Network, National Bar Association, National Black Justice Coalition, National Black Law Students Association, National Coalition on Black Civic Participation, National Council of Negro Women, National Urban League, Until Freedom and World Without Genocide.
Derrick Johnson, president and CEO of the NAACP, said Mosby’s conviction is an example of how Black Americans are targeted by the justice system.
“We’ve watched, decade after decade, as Black Americans have faced wrongful prosecution at the hands of those who seek to promote injustice,” Johnson said in a statement.
“The only thing Marilyn Mosby is guilty of is the desire to provide her family with a better life. The sad reality is, as Black women take their rightful places in positions of power, dark forces seek to tear down both their progress, and that of our community. The NAACP refuses to stand idly by as injustice takes the wheel, driving us down a path of further disparity. We are proud to stand alongside our partners in calling on President Biden and the Department of Justice to reemphasize their commitment to racial equity by pardoning Attorney Mosby. Enough is enough. It’s time to stand with Black women.”
