U.S. criminal justice policies have created the uniquely American style of mass incarceration. Since 1973, America has seen a sustained and substantial rise in its incarcerated population and the formation of a carceral state. Currently, the United States imprisons 2.23 million people, which amounts to 23% of the world’s total incarcerated population. The most important takeaway is that the carceral state is an institution of predation, and predatory institutions create, maintain, and reproduce difference through the use of violence. I argue that the racial state is the predatory state, but the predatory state is not necessarily always the racial state. The predatory state is different from the racial state in that is applies violence toward various intersections of marginalization. This article contributes to the theoretical development of the concept of predation by its machinations through the institution of criminal justice. I discuss the predatory state, violence, and race. Next, I examine some of the ideas surrounding the collective knowledge, memory, and guilt, as well as the epistemologies, of race. Additionally, I discuss racial ignorance and selective knowing. Lastly, I offer Ferguson and Baltimore as case studies in the relationship between predation, identity, and violence as they affect criminal justice.
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