Truth and Reparation for the U.S. Imprisonment and Policing Regime

Jennifer M Page,Desmond King

doi:10.1017/s1742058x21000357

Jennifer M Page, Desmond King

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1017/s1742058x21000357

Copy DOI

Abstract

AbstractIn the literature on transitional justice, there is disagreement about whether countries like the United States can be characterized as transitional societies. Though it is widely recognized that transitional justice mechanisms such as truth commissions and reparations can be used by Global North nations to address racial injustice, some consider societies to be transitional only when they are undergoing a formal democratic regime change. We conceptualize the political situation of low-income Black communities under the U.S. imprisonment and policing regime in terms of three criteria for identifying transitional contexts: normalized collective and political wrongdoing, pervasive structural inequality, and the failure of the rule of law. That these criteria are met, however, does not necessarily mean that a transition is taking place. Drawing on the American political development and abolition democracy literatures, we discuss what it would mean for the United States to transition out of its present imprisonment and policing regime. A transitional justice perspective shows the importance of not only pushing for truth and reparation, but for an actual transition.

Highlights

Transitional justice is a way for societies to come to terms with injustice and violence, in the context of a formal democratic regime change
Truth commissions and reparations are among transitional justice’s various mechanisms and aim to provide accountability for past abuses and to lay the groundwork for democratic rule to supplant the rule of force
Though Aiyetoro’s aim is to lay out an argument for reparations for Black Americans, not to provide a theory of transitional justice, her formal–substantive democracy distinction offers a way in which the United States might be thought of as a transitional political context

Summary

Introduction

Transitional justice is a way for societies to come to terms with injustice and violence, in the context of a formal democratic regime change. This article analyzes imprisonment and policing-based state violence against Black Americans using a transitional justice framework.

Results

Conclusion