End Racial Profiling Act

aka ERPA

02/26/2013

The Legacy of Trayvon Martin

By Meghan Groob, Media Relations Associate, ACLU at 12:14pm

Exactly one year ago today, a 17-year-old boy named Trayvon Martin was gunned down in his quiet Florida suburb in a tragedy that left our country shocked and ashamed. The incident set off a national conversation about racial profiling and the role race played in his death and subsequent police action.

Racial profiling violates the Constitution by denying equal protection under the law, as well as freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures. Furthermore, the Constitution requires treaties to be treated as the "supreme law of the land," and racial profiling runs afoul of America's human rights treaty obligations.

12/21/2012

Racial Profiling

Time for Obama and Holder to Truly End Racial Profiling by Law Enforcement

By Laura W. Murphy, Director, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 12:18pm

Why can’t President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder do more to ban racial profiling in the United States? Surely, more so than any of their predecessors, they can understand the injustice and humiliation racial profiling victims feel when they are treated as suspect because of the color of their skin.

Yet, after four years in office, they’ve made no revisions to the Justice Department guidance regarding the use of race in federal law enforcement issued by Attorney General John Ashcroft in 2003. Ashcroft’s guidance was deficient: though it expressly banned racial profiling by federal law enforcement agencies, it left broad exemptions for national security and border integrity investigations.

05/23/2013

End Racial Profiling Act

Want to Restore Fairness to the Criminal Justice System? End Racial Profiling

By Alex Berger, Legislative Assistant, ACLU at 3:35pm

Just over a year ago, the Senate Judiciary Committee held its first hearing on racial profiling in over a decade on the heels of the murder of 17-year-old Florida resident Trayvon Martin.

His death gave a face to the terrible practice of racial profiling and brought new media scrutiny to the issue.

Over the years, many of our political leaders have recognized the injustice that results from racial profiling. President Obama and President Bush have both urged an end to this discriminatory practice. Former Attorney General John Ashcroft said racial profiling "needs to stop [because] every American has a right to look to law enforcement officials to protect their rights." These sentiments were echoed by Attorney General Eric Holder in 2009 in his testimony before the Senate Appropriations Committee.

American Civil Liberties Union