A hail of tear gas grenades lobbed indiscriminately up the boulevard; a squadron of bludgeon-wielding officers swinging their way through crowds of people — French media and much of the political class call it “maintaining order.” For those who take to the street to exercise their right to protest, they’re blatant attempts to intimidate and repress.

But what goes on beyond these violent scenes is often just as worrying. France’s justice system turned a blind eye to the arbitrary arrest and detention of hundreds of protesters during this spring’s movement against President Emmanuel Macron’s retirement reform, with public prosecutors abdicating their role as guardians of individual liberties. This is one example of what Paris criminal defense attorney Raphaël Kempf calls “judicial violence.” In his recent book, Violences Judiciaires, he explains how France’s justice system often serves as an extension of the police clampdown on political activism and organizing.

One of France’s foremost civil liberties advocates, Kempf frequently defends protesters and political activists. In 2021 and 2022, he was also one of the defense attorneys at the trial over the November 13, 2015 terrorist attacks. Kempf spoke to Jacobin’s Harrison Stetler about the policing of protest and the courts’ failure to stand up to the victims of punitive policing.