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ACLU report: racial profiling is prevalent
An American Civil Liberties Union report released on Tuesday said widespread racial profiling by law enforcement agents remains a pervasive problem throughout the United States.
The report blames vague Justice Department guidance and “other Bush policies” as the reason why the following ethnicities are still being targeted: African American, Asian, Latino, South Asian, Arab and Muslim. The profiling measures are said to include FBI surveillance, border stops, immigration enforcement programs and the creation of “no fly lists.”
The report was submitted to a United Nations committee. Chandra Bhatnagar, staff attorney with the ACLU Human Rights Program and the main author of the report, said:
“The U.S. government must take urgent, direct action to rid the nation of the scourge of racial and ethnic profiling and bring this country into conformity with both the Constitution and international human rights obligations.”
back to top38 Comments to “ACLU report: racial profiling is prevalent”
Dennis Miller remarked after 9/11 “When you notice that 15 of the 19 highjackers were all from the same country, that’s not profiling that’s being minimally observant”. We can’t even be minimally observant about the religion practiced by AlQaeda fanatics.
I resent those who attempt to use “racial or ethnic profiling” to halt reasonable attempts at protecting the American people. However, I also resent anyone being stopped on a DWB (driving while black).
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What racial profile was this one?
We’re driving into El Paso over the border from Juarez about eight o’clock at night. The buff, brash, efficient, starched border patrol guy examines me, the female driver, the two teenagers in the back and then asks the disheveled man, also in the back seat, for his ID. He was wearing work clothes, had dust all over him, his hair was standing on end and he obviously had been sweating all day.
My husband laughed, pulled out his wallet and handed his military ID. The border patrol guy stood up straighter, saluted and said, “welcome back to the U.S., sir.”
Stopped and inspected because he looked suspicious. His skin color didn’t matter in the least.
I’m tired of this. If you look dangerous, you should expect to be searched.
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Maybe the people in some of those groups could stop committing crimes in disproportionate numbers. Then maybe nobody would ever think of profiling them.
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It seems to me that the police are getting a little nastier all the way around considering the videos I’ve seen lately. Perhaps it has to do with the macho end of the job, and that should be controlled.
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A friend of mine and his father were trying to enter Canada. The border guard asked them if they had any weapons to declare. They said no. He asked them again. They said no again. He asked them a third time, then my friend remember the Mississippi car tag and told they had left them at home and the guard let them through.
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I see no objective fact establishing that any racial profiling occurs at all. Disproportionality obviously does not establish this. Show me the evidence.
All I see is a completely unsubstantiated accusation.
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At such time as bad behavior is distributed on a demographically even basis, then ther won’t be profiling.
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I read through the entire anti-Bush diatribe. There is no actual data in the report that racial profiling is an epidemic. The report cites some individual cases, but these were being investigated.
The actual data for this report is based on:
“The disproportionate rates at which minorities are stopped and searched, in addition to the often high concentrations of
law enforcement in minority communities, continue to have a tremendous impact on the over-representation of minorities in the American criminal justice system.”
That does not mean that they are being stopped because of their race. It may mean they are in a high crime area where there is a higher concentration of police.
It is clear after reading this report that what the ACLU wants is more laws enacted so that they can prosecute more court cases. They want the “End Racial Profiling Act” (ERPA) to pass and they want “more enforceable standards under which law enforcement agents can be held accountable”. Why? So they can prosecute more cases. It is as simple as that.
Most of the report has to do with Muslims and the desire for the ACLU to prosecute more of these cases. They say,
“As part of the “war on terror,” the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) has continued to undertake problematic inquiries and investigations of members of Muslim communities, Muslim religious organizations (including mosques), and even Muslim charities”.
No matter that many of those charities have become front organizations for terrorism. The Democrats have stated that they will pass more of these laws and have shifted their attention to political profiling. Soon people will be pulled over for DWR (Driving While Republican).
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You are dangerously close to trying to control how the individual thinks and acts. I have had very few dealings with Asians, most of them positive. I have had quite a few dealings with black people, most of them positive. The only middle eastern people I know are Lebanese, and that has been positive. Still I would not intentionally go alone into a certain area of the city near me because several times a week I hear on the news there has been another shooting in “Richardsville” or another crack addict has set his girlfriend on fire.
Here is an example of profiling. I live in an area where I had a local policeman laugh and tell me what probable cause was for pulling someone over: A construction worker on Friday afternoon. This town also has the worst/best reputation for writing tickets for DUI’s
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“The disproportionate rates at which minorities are stopped and searched, in addition to the often high concentrations of
law enforcement in minority communities, continue to have a tremendous impact on the over-representation of minorities in the American criminal justice system.”
That residents of such minority communities are also disproportionately the victims of crime and in need of the protections provided by the criminal justice system somehow escapes the ACLU’s notice.
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I’d be more interested in a report revealing widespread “content of their character” profiling.
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kbells: A couple of years ago we drove an RV across the Canadian border. The customs agent having seen the US license plate, boarded the RV, then simply asked, “Where are your guns?”
It shocked me and ticked me off. I haven’t touched a gun of any kind for forty years, when I used to plink away at squirrels with a .22 shotgun.
“Driving While Black” or even “Walking While Black” remains a stoppable offense in much of the country, including my small city in WV. And truth be told, we have a whole lot more creepy, suspicious, unkempt and hostile looking white folks around here than we do black.
I can only imagine what it must be like to know that at any time a cop is likely to pull you over for absolutely no reason other than the color of your skin. Or because, “everybody knows” that you are likely to be carrying a gun or “casing” an upscale neighborhood.
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11. CCC, I hear folks quote MLK Jr’s “content of character” line often. The problem with that idea in his time as in ours is simple enough. To judge my character, you must first get to know me. I have bad character if I cheat at Quirkle or poker but you won’t know that unless you sit down to play a game with me. I’m an unscrupulous wall-paper contractor but you won’t know that if you havent hired me.
So instead of the needed interaction/discussion with those who are profiled, I think the cops often times make inaccurate mental stats and use them for predictive value:
Kids with low slung jeans or other atypical choice of clothing will be assumed to be one thing and those who dress otherwise won’t be.
I’ve seen young men in the horrid heat of Central Texas in July or Aug walking around in all black clothing. Other young men have tattoos up one arm and down the other. The choice of dress or presence of tattoos are often a poor proxy for anyone’s character. But are those things not derivative of character?
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Here is a profiling I am guilty of…I explained to my daughter the other day at the water park that if you have “Southern Belle” tattooed across your shoulders your probably aren’t. The same woman had “les bon tempe” tattooed across the small of her back. My friend Malia and I wondered later if that was truth in advertising.
I took something from Denis Leary’s book to explain to my daughter. Everybody, their brother, and their cat now has tattoo’s be an individual. Go against the norm. KEEP YOUR SKIN LIKE GOD INTENDED IT…and he calls himself a liberal???
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#8 Xion — That makes a lot of sense to me . . . lawyers* making more work for, in this case, themselves. Since the ACLU lives on violations, “creating” more violations by whatever means—especially a widespread perception among their targeted demographic that the problem is rampant which will cause them to be hypersensitive and vigilant—should bring them more work.
*Noting the difference of ethical lawyers such as NJL whom I’m reasonably certain wouldn’t engage in such activities.
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My little brother lived in a black neighborhood in N.C. for a few years, a fairly rough part of town. He’s white, but he said that he frequently got stopped, and he thinks that basically anyone driving in a certain part of town at a certain time of night will get stopped a lot.
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Here is another profile I have often heard: “The ACLU are a bunch of commie, pinko, swine.”
I’m not sure who originated that, but it seems pretty accurate.
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Hey, ROND! Would it make you laugh to know whenever the judge I worked for picked up briefs to read with the ACLU in it, he’d shake his head and say “I hate the ACLU.” You’re right! They make a lot of work and push a lot of paper!
You’re also right that I couldn’t work for them, but to be fair, there is a website that lists their cases and they are not all what you think! I saw it a few years ago, and I was very suprised. (I don’t remember it, but I suppose it could be googled somehow.) Does it make up for the nonsense? I don’t know. They might come under the “necessary evil” exception.
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I have been watching the HBO series Generation Kill. A black guy who talks about race non-stop throughout said the reason he joined the Marines was because he wanted to hang around white people. The reason he gives is that they don’t take you behind the Tastee Freeze and stab you with a screwdriver.
Obviously this is fiction, but take it as social commentary for what it is worth.
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#17 adds a lot to the discussion.
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Michelle at #2 makes a good point, which also illustrates part of the problem:
I think we’d all be in agreement that if you are behaving suspiciously or otherwise appear to be dangerous, in other words, where there is reasonable cause, you should be questioned.
Of course, the thing is, for some people, merely being black, or Arab, or appearing to be Muslim equates to “looking dangerous.” The same behaviour will be interpreted differently, depending on who is doing it.
So if a white woman is fidgeting with her hands as she waits to board a flight, the TSA person looks at her and thinks “Ah, she’s nervous about flying.” If an Arab-looking man is doing the same, then our TSA agent thinks – “Hmm, he’s acting suspiciously, he may be a terrorist – better pull him aside.”
That surely seems to me a case of racial profiling. It isn’t necessarily that the TSA agent conciously dislikes Arabs, she’s just making an unconscious decision based on race.
Anecdotal evidence and hypotheticals aren’t worth much, though. These things can be measured statistically, to see if there are patterns of disparate impact, and of people being treated unequally. What is the number of black drivers vs. white drivers stopped by each officer on the force? How many stops turn out to be cases where the person was innocent. A much higher proportion of false stops for black drivers vs. white drivers might reveal an intersting pattern – ie, the officer considers DWB, in and of itself, to be someone “looking dangerous.”
So, has anyone got any statistics or studies confirming or refuting the prevalance of racial profiling?
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ARCADIA: Or because, “everybody knows” that you are likely to be carrying a gun or “casing” an upscale neighborhood.
I repeat: perhaps the people in those suspected groups should stop making it statistically likely that they would be doing so. I realize that makes it hard on the totally innocent members of a particular “community,” but if they are a community, then they ought to get the micreants among them to behave. In the case of the “black community,” they ought to listen to Bill Cosby.
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Royclay: The ACLU report has LOTS of statistics as well as some nasty anecdotes. Many of the stats come from data required by state statutes or consent decrees. Here are some examples.
__
An analysis of the data obtained from the Department of Homeland Security reveals that
an astounding seventy-nine percent of the targets investigated were immigrants from
Muslim-majority countries. Moreover, foreign nationals from Muslim-majority
countries were 1,280 times more likely to be targeted than similarly situated individuals
from other countries. Incredibly, not even one terrorism-related conviction resulted
from the interviews conducted under this program. What did result, however, was an
intense chilling effect on the free speech and association rights of the Muslim, Arab and
South Asian communities targeted in advance of an already contentious presidential
election.
–
Data Reveals Racial Profiling by the Arizona Department of Public Safety
Pursuant to a 2006 settlement agreement in a class action lawsuit brought by the ACLU,
the Arizona Department of Public Safety (DPS) is required to collect traffic stop data.
An April 2008 report released by the ACLU of Arizona analyzing the first year of data
confirmed the prevalence of racial profiling in the state, revealing that African American
and Latino drivers were 2.5 times more likely than white drivers to be searched after
being stopped by the highway patrol, and Native American drivers were 3.25 times more
likely to be searched, even though they were less likely to be found with contraband.
Minority groups, including African Americans, Latinos and Middle Easterners, were
consistently stopped for longer periods of time than whites. Since the report was
released, DPS has agreed to limit the circumstances under which officers may conduct
consent searches. A study commissioned by the agency itself analyzing an additional six
months of data shows, however, that racial/ethnic disparities in the rates of searches,
including consent searches, have not improved.
–
The Study Act data clearly demonstrate that consent searches have a substantial racially
disparate impact. Black and Hispanic motorists are more than twice as likely as white
motorists to be subjected to consent searches, yet white motorists are twice as likely to
be found with contraband as a result of these searches. In July 2008, the ACLU of
Illinois…
–
Even after the settlement in 2008, the ACLU of Maryland and the Maryland NAACP
continue to have concerns about racial profiling by the Maryland State Police.
Unfortunately, since 2003, racial disparities in searches have continued. The 2008 data
show that about 70% of those searched on I-95 were people of color (45% African
American, 15% Hispanic and 9% other) and 30% were white. These percentages are
almost exactly the same as they were in 2002, the year prior to the 2003 consent
decree.
–
A February 2009 study conducted in West Virginia, pursuant to a Racial Profiling Data
Collection Act, indicates that Hispanic drivers in the state are 1.48 times more likely
and Black drivers are 1.64 times more likely to be stopped than white drivers. Once
stopped, non-whites are more likely than whites to be arrested, despite a contraband hit
rate significantly lower than that for white drivers. Even more alarmingly, the supporting
data for these findings were self-reported by law enforcement agencies across the state.
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And here are a couple of anecdotes. Imagine if you were any of these people.
Zakariya Reed is a firefighter, Gulf War veteran, and twenty-year member
of the U.S. National Guard. Reed has been repeatedly detained,
searched and interrogated when reentering the U.S. from Canada, where
he travels to visit family. Reed has been questioned about his associates,
political ideology, and his reasons for converting to Islam. Reed has been
handcuffed in front of his children, has had weapons pointed at him, and
has been denied access to counsel. The racialized nature of the stopsbecame abundantly clear when one federal agent came into the room
where Reed was detained and exclaimed, “Is this the guy? But he’s
White!” before then leaving the room. Even after Reed sought recourse through the Traveler Redress Inquiry Program (TRIP), submitted a
Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to obtain his records, and worked with his Congressional Representative to resolve the problem, he continues to be stopped at the border.
__
Fairuz Abdullah is a U.S. citizen and attorney from San Francisco. In
2007, when returning from a vacation in Peru, she was detained and
interrogated by CBP agents who referred her to immigration processing despite her having presented a valid U.S. passport. Federal agents
repeatedly addressed her in Spanish (even though she had identified herself as a native speaker of English), denied her access to counsel, and threatened to confiscate her cell phone when she sought the advice of a lawyer.
–
For example, Alamance County Sheriff
Terry Johnson, in reference to Mexicans, stated, “[t]heir values are a lot different—their
morals—than what we have here. In Mexico, there’s nothing wrong with having sex with
a 12, 13-year-old girl . . . . They do a lot of drinking down in Mexico.” Johnson
County Sheriff Steve Bizzell recently vocalized his views about immigrants, stating that
they are “breeding like rabbits” and they “rape, rob and murder American citizens.” He
also described Mexicans as “trashy.” These racially biased statements, made by strong
proponents of the 287(g) program, contribute to concerns about racial profiling in
counties with 287(g) agreements.
–
There are LOTS more of these anecdotes–the overwhelming weight of reading them all is very depressing.
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#2 Michelle,
One of my jobs during high school was being a clown for parties. One afternoon after one of the parties asked me to fly them down to El Paso where we spent some time in Ciudad Juarez. Except for make up I was still in clown costume. On the way back across the border my friends were in front of me. The border guy let them go without questioning. But they asked me bunches of questions. About drugs, weapons, etc. My friends later laughed themselves silly because they know that I never take drugs and that they were far more likely to have stuff on them.
An interesting official sign on the bridge across the Rio Grande says “You will be asked in which country you were born. ‘Yes’ is not a country.”
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#24
If Reed is going to be crossing the border often he ought to get to know the significant supervisors. It always amazes me how some people just whine and litigate when all they would need to do is be able to conduct themselves properly.
Fairuz, being an attorney should have known better.
#23, I have motored through West Virginia several times with non white people in the driver’s seat and we have never been stopped.
I was stopped at a check point in Texas one time on a trip through there to Nashville. In my car were three Chinese and one Korean. But no Mexicans. So it was a very brief stop. (Everybody had to stop. And they just looked in through the windows. )
Knowing what to say and how to say it makes things a lot easier not only at stops but everywhere in life. Those with ‘Tude’ tend to get ‘Tuded’ back.
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Even more alarmingly, the supporting
data for these findings were self-reported by law enforcement agencies across the state.
The supporting data is always self reported. Because of ’sensitivity’ to the issue the officer is often required to keep track of the race of whom they stop. No big deal that it is self reported.
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The claptrap about racial profiling is just that. And it is taken to a ridiculous level. One time I was stopped because I had left my cell phone at my mother’s house. She called a friend on the force and they stopped me on the road to tell me the message. The officer joked that it was a good stop because it added one more check mark in the ‘whites stopped’ column.
Parts of me are white, parts are black, parts are red and parts yellow. I scrub off the green parts
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I support several police associations because I can understand what they go through. They are not likely to know what they will get at any particular stop. Those who drive badly may also do other bad things. Police officers have a tendency to see a lot more ‘baddies’ in their work than the rest of us. And that has to make them ‘tough’ at times.
Some of the DWB’s you hear about are really DWBAA’s. Driving while being an Axle.
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Loved the stats about stops vs seizures. Maybe we should double the number of stops of WHITE people.
Fairuz, an American citizen should have known better than to try to get back into the country?
And why the heck should Reed have to “get to know” the supervisors???
Sorry Monty. No deal.
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Arcadia, If Reed is constantly being ‘inspected’ and ‘reinspected’ then he needs to figure out a strategy. Insanity is defined as doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.
Frankly since he was interviewed more than once then he may be some sort of terrorist. Agents don’t really want to waste their time. And unless the border has been really dull they don’t want to talk to the same guy over and over. Anyway Reed is obviously doing something wrong. And his story is suspect.
As far as Fairuz goes, her story is doubtful and even if true she obviously did not know how to handle herself. If she were just some unintelligent woman then her story would be more plausible.
The best thing I can find about Fairuz is that she had the good sense to marry someone named Monty
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It’s good to read that you’re taking care of that mold and mildew problem, Monty.
Some of you seem to think white people are never pulled over or stopped from going onto a plane. There was that white woman who died in their custody, some relative of a NY celebrity or something like that. (Not to mention that little boy who said “bye, bye plane” once too often. He was white.)
Passports can be faked. You expect the police to literally stop asking a question or following their procedures just because a passport is handed over? They’re not doing their job if they do that. If the woman was a lawyer, she should have identified herself as one. Your anecdote only relates one side of the story and it can’t be cross-examined, now can it?
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Royclay (#20):
Although my comment at #17 was said “tongue-in-cheek” there is historical precedent behind its sentiment. The ACLU was established by leftist extremists during WWI and immediately became an attractive organization for the communists and their sympathizers of that period.
Its principal founder, Ralph Baldwin, was a pacifist, a member of the radical Industrial Workers of The World(IWW), and the author of the pro-Communist book, “Liberty Under The Soviets”. Although he later denounced Communism, the ACLU’s leftist orientation continued to attract scores of Communists to its membership. The Communist goal of discrediting and undermining the police, the military, and religion as principal institutions of the “evil” capitalist system dove-tailed nicely with many ACLU goals and activities.
The Communist influence within the ACLU became so strong and negative to its public image that, in 1940, the organization had to embark on a purge of prominent Communists from its membership. Among the first to go was Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, one of the founders of the ACLU, a chairperson of the American Communist Party and a member of the IWW. (In 1964, upon her death, Flynn was honored with an official state funeral in the Soviet Union.)
Whether this purge was genuine or merely cosmetic is uncertain. However, the public disposal of a few “sacrificial lambs” like Flynn worked to some extent to restore the ACLU’s tarnished image.
Although there are many sincere and patriotic Americans in the ACLU, to this day the organization remains an attractive tool for radical leftists. Their goal of undermining the security of America and its conservative institutions is nicely facilitated by many ACLU activities.
So as we debate the issue of alleged “racial profiling” on this thread, we need to keep a reasonable balance between personal freedoms and national security. We need to remember that there really are those among us, with ulterior motives, who wish to use our freedoms to undermine our security.
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If you look at the FBI statistics:
31% of homicides are committed by whites.
37% by blacks.
32% by other or unknown.
In other words, most homicides by far are committed by non-whites. So why is the ACLU hell-bent on seeing the same number of whites in jail?
And why does everything have to be about race? Can’t we simply lock up people who commit crimes regardless of their skin color and stop this racist bean counting?!!
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RE #18 NJL
Yeah, I know the ACLU does have their moments—proving that ‘all’ inclusive broad brush statements about such things just doesn’t work. I really didn’t mean to imply they are constantly wrong.
I didn’t read everything after #18 to get here, but I’d bet there are at least a couple of more all inclusive broad-brush proofs lurking in that collection of glyphs. People feel strongly about the ACLU—I do, but hopefully only when justified.
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Crime victims are grossly disproportionate by race, but nobody cares about that.
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I’ve been a cop for over 17 years now. I don’t profile. I don’t need to. The people who break the law and constantly end up in jail most often advertise through their stupidity. Some nights it’s like shooting fish in a barrel.
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Thanks Dav. My brother is a cop too. He says exactly the same thing.
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