. @JoeBiden and @KamalaHarris should establish a Commission on Transitional Justice.

A thread on why 1/

At the core of President-elect Biden’s first address was an appeal to unity and a commitment to overcoming divisions as they exist in the US.

The central question we all face is: how do we achieve it? 2/

The American way since our founding has been to look forward only in the face of wrongdoing and injustice. Yet divisions remain.

A new approach is needed: the approach of transitional justice. 3/

In transitional justice you look back to reach forward towards a more united future.

TJ recognizes that healing deep divisions and damage to political relationships can only occur if we first understand and acknowledge why relationships are damaged and what wrongs occurred. 4/

There are many subjects a TJ Commission might take up: the Muslim Ban, child separation policy to deter immigration, police violence that disproportionately affects Black men and women, how legacies of slavery & Jim Crow shape economic inequality today. This is not exhaustive 5/

Pointing to the legality of (some) policies just cited is besides the point from a TJ perspective. Legal authorization does not erase a policy’s immorality, nor does it erase the effects of enduring injustice such policies create. 6/

As this tweet by @ignor indicates the options for transitional justice processes to adopt are many 7/: https://twitter.com/igorcvetkovski7/status/1325516828228145154?s=20

Any commission formed should be bipartisan to avoid the perception that the search for justice is a quest for vengeance. It should be diverse, including BIPOC and women, to ensure it is just in its functioning as well as in its purpose. 8/

And it should draw from and build on the grassroots and state-level movements for TJ already present in the US, e.g.,The Maryland Lynching Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the @eji_org National Memorial for Peace and Justice, and the platform of the Movement for Black Lives 9

There are many willing to help out with any such commission and eager to support its efforts. The time for transitional justice in the United States is now.

tagging those to whom this thread may be of interest: @theICTJ @elfjcgc @RCarranza_ @kelly_zvobgo @yuvrajjoshi @rutiteitel @dtolbert_david @Sifill_LDF

And finally thank you to @pgh_law for prompting this thread.