Conyers
Reintroduces
Racial
Profiling
Legislation
4/16/99
Representative John Conyers (D-MI) yesterday reintroduced a bill that would require the Justice Department to conduct a study of racial profiling by acquiring data from law enforcement agencies regarding the characteristics of persons stopped for alleged traffic violations. "We must stop the invidious practice of racial profiling; all citizens, regardless of their race, should be free to travel America's highways without undue harassment," said Conyers. Representative Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and Senators Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Russell Feingold (D-WI) are cosponsoring the legislation. The limited data available indicate that the problem of racial profiling in traffic stops is growing. For example, a recent study by the Orlando Sentinel found that 70% of the persons stopped on I-95 were African American, even though African Americans make up less than 10% of the driver population. A court-ordered study in Maryland found that more than 70% of drivers stopped on I-95 were African American, though they make up only 17.5% of drivers. Yet another study, conducted in conjunction with a New Jersey civil-rights lawsuit found minorities were nearly five times as likely as non-minorities to be stopped for traffic violations along that state's turnpike. Last week, the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois produced statistical evidence of similar practices by a drug unit of that state's highway patrol (see last week's issue at http://www.drcnet.org/wol/086.html#nonwhite). At a a press conference on Capitol Hill last Wednesday, Rep. Menendez said, "It is not a crime in this country to be an African American. It is not a crime to be a Latino. It is not a crime for a Black or Hispanic American to own a luxury car. But if you are a minority driver in my state on the New Jersey Turnpike, you might actually think that it is." Last month, New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman fired the state's highway patrol chief after he publicly commented that Latinos are more likely to be involved in drug trafficking. Conyers said his bill will increase awareness about profiling among law enforcement, and help determine if a broader legislative response is called for. "If our citizens are to trust our justice system it is imperative that all forms of discrimination be eliminated from law enforcement," he said. "The Traffic Stops Statistics Act of 1999 will help give Congress and Americans the tools to assess and understand a dangerous form of such discrimination -- racial profiling in traffic stops." Text of all federal legislation can be found online at http://thomas.loc.gov.
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