Transitional Justice Mechanisms

Transitional Justice Report

Transitional Justice Report (May 2023)

Transitional Justice Report (May 2023)

This inaugural report, prepared by students in Howard Law Professor Darin Johnson's Spring 2023 semester of the International Criminal Law and Transitional Justice seminar, focuses on Transitional Justice Mechanisms in the United States. The report was created to provide the Office of Global Criminal Justice (GCJ) at the U.S. State Department and the global community with a better understanding of the range of transitional justice mechanisms being undertaken in the United States. The study summarizes truth and reconciliation commissions and reparations initiatives proposed or undertaken in the United States as of the date of the report. All of the initiatives reflect a desire by proponents, at various levels of government and by public and private organizations, to bring attention and healing to collective community harm. We expect that transitional justice initiatives will continue to proliferate in the United States as more Americans and communities come to understand the important role that these initiatives can play in truth telling, community reconciliation, reparative justice and preventing the recurrence of human rights violations. This report should be viewed as a “living document”. We plan to periodically update the report to track updates in transitional justice mechanisms around the country. This and future reports will be available to the public on the Howard University School of Law Thurgood Marshall Civil Rights Center website.