By Gabe Rottman, Legislative Counsel, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 3:24pm
We haven’t pulled punches in our criticismof the HolderJusticeDepartment, so it’s especially important that we give credit where credit is due. In support of an important case brought by the ACLU of Maryland defending the right to record, the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division forcefully and unequivocally endorsed our view in an unusual (but welcome!) 11-page letter to the Baltimore Police Department.
Tasers subject their victims to a 50,000 volt shock followed by 100 microsecond pulses of 1,200 volts. Since 2001, more than 500 people in the United States have died after law enforcement officers used this weapon against them. A study published this week by the American Heart Association’s Circulation Journal confirms that the misuse of a Taser can cause sudden cardiac arrest and death.
At this point, most know the story of Trayvon Martin, a 17-year-old who died from a fatal gunshot wound on Feb. 26 in Sanford, Fla. The tragic story has garnered national attention, bringing to light valuable questions about the role of race and stereotypes in law enforcement practices. More than a month later, the controversy continues to brew.
Yesterday a divided Supreme Court ruled in Florence v. Burlington that any person arrested can be subject to a strip search — even for a minor offense or traffic violation — without any reason to suspect that they may be carrying a weapon or contraband.
As disturbing as the practice of subjecting people accused of minor offenses to degrading strip searches is, it wouldn’t be a problem if those people weren’t thrown behind bars in the first place. Unfortunately, U.S. jails are full of people accused of minor, nonviolent crimes. One such person was Albert Florence, a 35-year-old Black man erroneously arrested in 2005 for failing to pay a traffic fine he had already paid — and whose experience is the center of the case decided by the Court.
Last night the author attended a gathering at the Allen Chapel AME Church in Sanford, Fla. The following is an excerpt of her remarks:
As we learn more about the tragic shooting death of Trayvon Martin, concerns are being raised about the manner, thoroughness and neutrality of the investigation by the police in Sanford, Fla.
The concern is justified.
To understand it, it helps to know how we got here. Not the events of Feb. 26, which ended in Trayvon's death, but a sad history in Florida where justice for all has been illusive — and justice for some impossible. Too often, crimes with clear, undeniable racial motives were swept under the rug or overlooked while families and communities waited in vain for justice.
