Race, Place, and Context: The Persistence of Race Effects in Traffic Stop Outcomes in the Face of Situational, Demographic, and Political Controls

This paper provides evidence of racial variation in traffic enforcement responses to local government budget stress using data from policing agencies in the state of Missouri from 2001 through 2012. Like previous studies, we find that local budget stress is associated with higher citation rates; we also find an increase in traffic-stop arrest rates. However, we find that these effects are concentrated among White (rather than Black or Latino) drivers. The results are robust to the inclusion of a range of covariates and a variety of model specifications, including a regression discontinuity examining bare budget shortfalls. Considering potential mechanisms, we find that targeting of White drivers is higher where the White-to-Black income ratio is higher, consistent with the targeting of drivers who are better able to pay fines. Further, the relative effect on White drivers is higher in areas with statistical over-policing of Black drivers: when Black drivers are already getting too many fines, police cite White drivers from whom they are presumably more likely to be able to raise the needed extra revenue. These results highlight the relationship between policing-as-taxation and racial inequality in policing outcomes.

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fiscal Pressures and Discriminatory Policing: Evidence from Traffic Stops in Missouri

Harris

Ash

Fagan

2020

“…There are real consequences to the constant surveillance that non-White people face. As Shoub et al (2020) show, Black male and Latinx drivers are both more likely to experience a search than are White male drivers, with Black male drivers being searched two to three times more frequently than White male drivers. This study builds on a long line of social science literature identifying racial disparities in traffic stop outcomes (e.g.…”

Section: Police Provide Social Controlmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This study builds on a long line of social science literature identifying racial disparities in traffic stop outcomes (e.g. Baumgartner, Epp, and Shoub 2018;Grogger and Ridgeway 2006;Harris et al 2020;Knowles, Persico, and Todd 2001;Pierson et al 2020;Rojek, Rosenfeld, and Decker 2004;Shoub et al 2020;Soss and Weaver 2017). Shoub et al (2020) contribute to this line of work by making use of a large database of administrative records from two different states and showing that these disparities persist even when accounting for a variety of contextual and institutional factors.…”

Section: Police Provide Social Controlmentioning

confidence: 99%

No Justice, No Peace: Political Science Perspectives on the American Carceral State

Harris

Walker

Eckhouse

2020

This essay explores four key dimensions of political science literature on the U.S. criminal legal system, by way of introducing articles in the special issue on criminal justice featured in the Journal of Racial and Ethnic Politics. We situate police as an institution of social control, rather than providing safety for people vulnerable to crime. The vast array of policy tools to surveil, track, and detain citizens, which lack commensurate restraints on their application, amount to a finely tuned carceral machine that can be deployed against groups newly identified as deviant. We therefore turn attention to this dynamic with our second theme: the criminalization of immigrants, the expansion of interior immigration enforcement, and the consequent targeting of Latinx people. We likewise discuss lessons for reform that can be drawn from research on representation and the political socialization that occurs as a consequence of involuntary contact with the system. We conclude with a brief discussion of directions for future research. The criminal legal system is a key force for persistent racial and class inequality. By turning attention to the politics of the criminal legal system, we forward a critical and understudied facet of American political life that intersects with all corners of the discipline.

“…1.Work in this issue demonstrates the targeted nature of policing practices in the United States and their racial implications: Shoub et al (Forthcoming) and Ash, Fagan, and Harris (Forthcoming).…”

Section: Notesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Ripple Effect: The Political Consequences of Proximal Contact with Immigration Enforcement

Walker

Roman

Barreto

2020

A growing body of research suggests that proximal exposure to immigration enforcement can have important social and health-related consequences. However, there is little research identifying the impact of proximal contact with immigration policy on political attitudes and behaviors, and still less investigating the underlying mechanisms that might connect contact and political dispositions. Drawing on insights from criminal justice, we argue that proximal immigration contact influences political behavior via a sense of injustice with respect to the discriminatory application of immigration enforcement. The impact of a sense of injustice should primarily hold among Latinos, who are targeted on the basis of race, ethnicity, accent, and skin color. Nevertheless, it may also hold among Blacks, whose communities are targeted more generally, and Asians, to whom issues related to immigration are likewise important. In order to assess this theory, we leverage a survey with nationally representative samples of four different racial groups. We find that proximal contact motivates participation in protests, and does so indirectly via a sense of injustice for white and Asian respondents. Latino and Black respondents are primarily motivated by injustice irrespective of contact. In sum, the results suggest that immigration enforcement and non-immigration-related criminal justice policies may have similar political effects on those who are proximately affected.