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A "tough on crime" attitude has dominated criminal justice policy and practice in the United States since the 1970s. In an effort to understand this rise in punitiveness, scholars have identified racial attitudes and religion as significant predictors of punitive sentiment. However, little or no extant research has examined the potential mediating effect of racial resentment on the relationship between religion and punitive attitudes. Using data from the 2017 Kids' Wellbeing Survey, ordinal and logistic regressions are employed to measure the relationships between religion, racial resentment, and punitive attitudes toward youth criminals. Findings indicate that the effects of religion, particularly Mainline Protestant, Evangelical, and Catholic affiliation, on punitive attitudes toward criminally involved youth is mediated by racial resentment. This suggests that racial resentment plays a significant role in understanding the relationship between religion and punitive sentiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]