Justice Above All
The Thurgood Marshall Institute at the Legal Defense Fund brings you Justice Above All, a quarterly series about the evolution of, and continued need for, racial justice advocacy. We’ve entered a time where many of the building blocks underpinning our work for racial justice are being questioned or actively undermined. Justice Above All provides an accessible way to help inform the national debate, revive our history, and remember how far we still must go in our quest to realize the ideals for which Thurgood Marshall and the advocates he led fought.
Justice Above All
Driving While Black
Content Warning: Themes of racism, violence, and police brutality are discussed throughout this episode. Please proceed with caution and care.
The U.S. has persistently relied on armed law enforcement to enforce traffic laws. However, existing evidence does not support the notion that police traffic enforcement improves public safety. In fact, police traffic enforcement has serious adverse consequences for community health and well-being, with disproportionate impacts on Black communities. Last year, the Thurgood Marshall Institute published a research brief, Safe Roads for All, which found that police traffic enforcement is not associated with safer roads. This episode of Justice Above All builds upon what is discussed in that brief and presents a community-centered public health approach to traffic safety. Our guests come from the transit safety and police reform worlds. Together, they agree that we can reimagine traffic safety in a way that prioritizes public health and eliminates our heavy reliance on policing.
Today's host is Dr. Sandhya Kajeepeta, Senior Researcher and Statistician at the Thurgood Marshall Institute. She is in conversation with the following guests:
- Kim Saltz: Justice in Public Safety Project Legal Fellow, Legal Defense Fund
- Amber Sherman: Policy Organizer, Decarcerate Memphis
- Tiffany Smith: Program Manager, Vision Zero Network
For more information on this episode, please visit https://tminstituteldf.org/driving-while-black.
This episode was written and produced by Jakiyah Bradley and Dr. Sandhya Kajeepeta. Resonate Recording provided production support.
If you enjoyed this episode please consider leaving a review and helping others find it! To keep up with the work of LDF please visit our website at www.naacpldf.org and follow us on social media at @naacp_ldf. To keep up with the work of the Thurgood Marshall Institute, please visit our website at www.tminstituteldf.org and follow us on Twitter at @tmi_ldf.