The Justice Roundtable’s transition report provides a vision of transformative justice for the President of the United States and the 117th Congress to implement critical changes needed at the federal level. This transformation begins with law enforcement accountability, which has been the subject of unprecedented protests, and continues by correcting the harms of pretrial detention, the punitiveness of drug policy, the excesses of sentencing, the barriers to reentry, and the under-use of clemency.  And it includes excising the 13th amendment’s prison slavery exception clause, a comprehensive reckoning with race, and an institution of international standards for human rights protections. 

In their totality, the recommendations in this report are designed to help the President and Congress steer the nation into a new decade of healing and hope. The U.S. carceral system, rife with system and institutional racism, has impeded justice and equity for far too long. The upheaval caused by the current police pandemic on top of an unprecedented health pandemic has intensified the need for overarching recommendations to transform the criminal legal system so it truly serves the interests of justice and human rights. With the right intention and tools, the country can heal its divides. The Justice Roundtable looks forward to supporting members of the executive and legislative branches who believe in transformative justice for 2021 and beyond.