When liberals bring up race within debates about criminal justice policy and practice, some conservatives are quick to cry foul. Yet while conservatives understandably resist government-induced economic equality for all, those who take issue with calls for racial equality under the law demonstrate a clear misapprehension of what conservatism truly means. Furthermore, they miss an opportunity to create a more just, ordered, and free society.

At its roots, conservatism is meant to be the harbinger of liberty and legal equality. As noted by the great conservative thinker Russell Kirk, “Order and justice and freedom, [conservatives] believe, are the artificial products of a long social experience, the results of trial and reflection and sacrifice.” Thus, conservatives should hold dearly to these principles.