The Theriault verdict & courts analysis is deeply dissatisfying from a critical race lens and here are *some* reasons why: 1/

#herefordafonte

Race features at the *start* of the verdict
It situates the case in a racial context & the court acknowledges race to uphold Dafonte’s credibility in some *brief* instances - tho he was not on trial /2

But race can’t just be a forethought, it must be part of the ongoing analysis, especially when this case is really about #racism & state/ police/ structural violence /3

As a *Black* woman in law, I see too often the laws continued lip service to racial justice while in the same breath aligning w/ unjust outcomes & clinging to legal rhetoric - *reasonableness*, *doubt* - that discount the lived experiences of Black communities /4

With respect, judge could have said more & done more with its #race analysis, for ex., it left out the whiteness, class privilege & power wielded by two bros - w/ no discussion of why they clung to the idea of property/ private space as paramount to Black life /5

The verdicts narratives from the outset construct *19-yr old* Dafonte as hood/ robber/ aggressor (almost like they did w/ #TrayvonMartin ) while leaving untouched the racialized violence the brothers felt entitled to engage /6

The failure to deconstruct the twin realities of Black trauma vis a vis the very real power & entitlement is painstakingly absent from this decision & as a white judge w/ no lived vantage point that lens may or may not ever feature more deeply /7

Also, #lawtwitter we like to say justice must be seen to be done, but no, it should actually, substantively *be done*

Throughout the reading of the verdict, the impact & outcome of this on Dafonte, his family & Black communities feels like a mere afterthought /8

Yes, sentencing is one avenue to do this, but the language used in this decision can/ will contextualize & broaden - or limit - the scope of remedies that may be freed up in a civil suit, human rights or in the public interest) /9

Theriault decision is yet another sad but unsurprising reminder that courts, as they stand and the law, as it is often narrowly interpreted, has *not* substantively ensured justice for Black, Indigenous & poor communities /10

The continued devaluing of Black life in the law’s procedural, interpretive aspects and moreso in its *substantive outcomes* is part of why the verdict rings hollow for so many or at least for me /11

And, you can be decolonial, abolitionist & still be disappointed w/ this verdict, it simply affirms recent calls

In this spirit, this is an invitation for us to consider what forms of personal, familial and community accountability beyond imprisonment are possible /12