Guilty until proven guilty? An examination of the anti-piracy response at the interactional level

The focus of literature on the policy responses to the Somali pirate has thus far examined controls put in place at the international, regional, and national levels. There has however, been little research examining how these international level policies have manifested themselves at the interactional level, namely through the prosecution of individuals charged with the crime of piracy. Here, informed by elements of critical race theory and the politics of identity, I analyze the trial transcripts of the prosecution of five Somali nationals in the US. I pay particular attention to the reality of these anti-piracy policies as they play out in a US courtroom where they not only reify larger processes of global stratification, but also deny the defendant's access to justice by characterizing them as black, Muslim, youth with possible connections to terrorism.