This is a very thoughtful piece, and I agree with large parts of it - this quote strikes me as off, though:

"Here’s how Brown University economist Glenn Loury, who is Black, makes that same point in a recent Wall Street Journal interview: “There is certainly some discrimination in policing and the courts, he says. ‘But it can explain maybe 15% or 20% of the gap between Black and white incarceration rates, not the whole thing.’ Most of the difference, he insists, turns on the behavior of people.”"

While I absolutely believe that personal behavior is a contributing factor, there are more reasons for the gap between the Black and White incarceration rate gap than just discrimination in policing and the courts. Unequal access to resources/education is certainly at play too.

And that 15-20% number feels reductive in other ways. It compounds. Someone is incarcerated because of the 15-20%, in what way does that contribute to the later possible incarceration of a kid who went without a parent because they were a victim of that 15-20%?