Issue 14(3) Introduction

• Published date: 01 July 2024
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/21533687241253345
• Author: Howard Henderson
• Date: 01 July 2024
• Subject Matter: Editorial

Issue 14(3) Introduction

Howard Henderson

At a critical juncture in our nation’s history, this issue of Race and Justice provides

timely and vital scholarship on pressing concerns around policing, protest, and

racial (in)justice. The research articles and notes featured here offer rigorous empirical

analyses and theoretically grounded insights that can inform evidence-based solutions

to the crisis of racially disparate police violence and the criminalization of dissent.

Amidst a contentious political landscape, the work of our contributing authors has

never been more urgent or necessary.

Leading off this issue, Lyons, Painter-Davis, and Medaris investigate the enduring

legacy of historical racial violence, analyzing the association between the prevalence

of lynchings and contemporary police shootings. Farrell challenges the notion of a

monolithic gendered experience with policing, employing an intersectional analysis

of stop-and-frisk data to reveal that Black women are subject to more invasive

police actions than white women. Iwama and colleagues present a data-driven critique

of the school-to-prison pipeline, quantifying stark racial disparities in school discipli-

nary practices that funnel youth of color into the carceral system.

Several articles in this issue explore the historical roots and contemporary manifes-

tations of racial injustice within the criminal justice system and their broader societal

impacts. Lautenschlager examines the historical through-lines connecting the lynch-

ings of the Jim Crow era, modern-day gentrif‌ication, and the aggressive over-policing

of Black and Brown communities. Novick and Pickett analyze the impact of protest on

public opinion and policy change in the wake of high-prof‌ile police killings. Metcalfe

and Baker contribute novel f‌indings on how experiences of procedural injustice, par-

ticularly among Black individuals, erode perceptions of the law’s legitimacy and

undermine legal socialization.

Rounding out the issue are two incisive research notes. DeAngelis presents rigorous

statistical evidence of systemic racism in lethal police shootings, demonstrating that

even after controlling for situational factors, Black victims are more likely to be

killed by police, yet less likely to be armed or exhibiting signs of mental illness.

Cecil offers a critical discourse analysis of media coverage of Breonna Taylor’s

killing, illuminating how patriarchal framing and victim-blaming narratives limit

mainstream journalism’s capacity to confront racist state violence.

Together, these pieces exemplify the mission that drives Race and Justice:to

produce rigorous research that catalyzes concrete action toward a more equitable crim-

inal legal system. In line with the journal’s commitment to diverse, inclusive, and inter-

sectional scholarship, the articles and research notes in this issue examine the

Editorial

Race and Justice

2024, Vol. 14(3) 263-264

© The Author(s) 2024

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DOI: 10.1177/21533687241253345

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