Despite Trump and the Right, We Can’t Compromise Criminal Justice Reform
As Donald Trump is sworn in as the 45th President of the United States, a 15-year-old Black girl named Bresha Meadows will be fighting for her freedom in Ohio.
Bresha allegedly killed her abusive father to defend herself and her family. As Trump is inaugurated on January 20, Bresha will stand before a judge as her lawyers make a motion for her release on her own recognizance. When this twice-postponed hearing finally occurs, Bresha will have spent 175 days in jail awaiting a trial. Few will be paying attention to Bresha’s plight as all eyes and ears turn to D.C. We hope that this is not a metaphor for what’s to come when Trump ascends to power.
Trump’s rhetoric and Cabinet choices make it clear that his administration will be a perilous and even deadly one for many. During his campaign speeches to overwhelmingly white crowds, Trump identified himself as the “law and order candidate,” code commonly used by politicians as a racist appeal to white voters. He regularly characterized poor Black neighborhoods as lawless, “crime-infested” spaces in need of law enforcement intervention. His selection of Jeff Sessions as his attorney general is in line with his racist rhetoric.
On the eve of his inauguration, we think that it’s critical to ask what impact Trump will have on the criminal punishment system—and in particular, on criminalized survivors of violence like Bresha. We must carefully consider how to organize around prison and criminal legal issues in this new context. There will be a scramble to prioritize issues that need our attention and advocacy. It’s important that the experiences of criminalized survivors of domestic and sexual violence not be lost in the shuffle.