Target actors: Prosecutors, defense attorneys, court personnel, law enforcement, local government, community advocates.

There is power in acknowledging past harms and in recognizing how those harms still reverberate in the present day. Prosecutors, for example, can issue apologies for past punitive policies. They can also create mechanisms to remedy the effects of these past policies by requesting that old charges be dismissed, supporting applications for early release, and facilitating record expungement. Community advocates can examine ways to memorialize past tragedies, and government leaders can apologize for their roles and the roles of their offices in events that still impact the community today.

Learn more:

• Motion for Justice: Remedy (Vera Institute of Justice)
• Community Remembrance Project (Equal Justice Initiative)