In search of justice

have done a lot to undercut the pervasive perspective
of police as community protectors. Most of mainstream
America now sees that their vision of policing is not
everyone’s experience. This is huge and it could not have
been accomplished without the social movements,” West
says. Because of that shift, police departments are now
looking at their procedures, talking about implicit biases,
beginning to grapple with some systemic changes. “And
it’s not courts that are making them do that—it’s more
organic. Probably, that’s a good thing,” West says. “The
law is at its core a deeply reactionary and conservative
institution and tends to be uncomfortable getting out
in front of social change. And anyway, social change is
most secure when it happens through evolving social
norms rather than through mandates.”
On Capitol Hill, a recently launched Bipartisan Working
Group between the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC)
and the House Judiciary Committee is pursuing legislative
and non-legislative solutions to “what we see happening
around the country and also in an effort to find
a path forward on overarching criminal justice reform,”
says CBC Policy Director Kendra Brown JD’12.
Working with a variety of civil rights groups and
nonprofits, Brown says there is a strong likelihood that
Congress will move forward on criminal justice reform. “I
know that certain bills have moved through the judiciary
committee and have passed markup. As we move forward
with criminal justice reform, there is a lot of bipartisan
energy looking at what needs to be considered, what are
the issues that cut across all of our communities, where
are the areas that we know we can find common ground.
Everyone really understands that this is a time when we
need to act.”
But Brown is quick to add that there are many different
areas that need attention. “So many statistics show,
unfortunately, in many key areas African Americans are
not doing well and that really needs to be addressed.”
Brown cites an extensive report that shows many black
communities are hurting compared to other demographics,
including in access to wealth, employment, education,
health, and incarceration.
“Over the years, certain policies have had a disparate
impact on African Americans and that’s why when BLM
started a majority of Americans didn’t understand,”
Brown says. “With the murder of Trayvon Martin there
was an overwhelming sense that in the grand scheme of
things African American lives did not and were not receiving
the attention and the same level of commitment
that others were receiving. When you have Trayvon Martin,
Michael Brown, Eric Garner—and that is just three—
you have all these individuals that have been killed and
then it seems as if there is no accountability? It makes
one feel as if my life may not count and matter as much
as someone else’s. Now people in our nation are starting
Jay Mallin
LOQUITUR 24