Transitional Justice in the United States of America

Justice for All?

Brianne McGonigle Leyh

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English

Routledge
08 August 2025

Peace studies & conflict resolution; Criminology: legal aspects; International human rights law; Criminal justice law; Sentencing & punishment

Series: Transitional Justice

This book employs a transitional justice lens in order to explore justice initiatives in the United States of America.

Transitional justice developed out of societal demands to better address serious abuse, injustice, and atrocities – initially in South American post-authoritarian contexts transitioning to democratic states and later elsewhere, but especially within post-conflict contexts. The lens of transitional justice has only rarely been extended to the United States and never in a comprehensive way. This book aims to provide a contemporary and critical analysis of relevant developments and debates within the United States related to transitional justice. Using the framework of the five main ‘pillars’ of transitional justice – truth, reparation, accountability, guarantee of non-repetition, and memory – the book identifies and explores relevant justice initiatives, both historical and contemporary, across federal, state, and local levels in the United States. The empirical examples taken up show how a broad array of civil society actors are driving transitional justice processes across the country. By recognizing both extraordinary and ordinary justice processes as transitional justice, the book offers a broader understanding of how groups navigate transitions to more democratic, peaceful, and socially just societies. The examples further shed light on the expansion of the field to nontraditional contexts, the relationship between global norms and local practices, and the role of law and political compromise. The book concludes by emphasizing the value and power of the plurality of initiatives taking shape across the United States but calls for a more coherent transitional justice policy at the national level.

This book is relevant for scholars and students with interests in transitional justice, conflict resolution, human rights, Indigenous studies, culture, and race.

By: Brianne McGonigle Leyh
Imprint: Routledge
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 234mm, Width: 156mm,
ISBN: 9781032660127
ISBN 10: 1032660120
Series: Transitional Justice
Pages: 310
Publication Date: 08 August 2025
Audience: College/higher education , Professional and scholarly , Primary , Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Brianne McGonigle Leyh is Associate Professor at the Netherlands Institute of Human Rights and the Montaigne Center for the Rule of Law, Faculty of Law, Economics, and Governance, Utrecht University, the Netherlands.

Reviews for Transitional Justice in the United States of America: Justice for All?

""This timely and insightful book reveals that the transitional justice field has much to offer the United States as we continue to grapple with the painful legacy of historical and contemporary injustices; at the same time, the beautifully chronicled sub-national initiatives undertaken in U.S. communities may inform TJ efforts elsewhere."" Beth van Schaack, former Ambassador-at-Large for Global Criminal Justice ""Brianne McGonigle Leyh’s pathbreaking scholarship expands the field of transitional justice. She convincingly argues that the United States is a ‘non-paradigmatic’ transitional justice case and opens a provocative discussion about what justice requires to redress historic and systemic racial violence and discrimination in the United States."" Laurel E. Fletcher, Clinical Professor of Law, UC Berkeley