January 8, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
media@aclu.org PROVIDENCE, RI - In
a federal lawsuit filed today, the American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode
Island charged that state police engaged in racial profiling and acted
unconstitutionally when they detained 14 people on Interstate 95 and transferred
them to immigration officials. The individuals, all Guatemalans, were stopped in
a van after the driver changed lanes without using a turn signal.
The ACLU brought today's lawsuit on behalf of 11 of the
individuals, arguing that the actions by the state police violated the state's
Racial Profiling Prevention Act, as well as the driver and passengers'
constitutional rights to be free from discrimination and from unreasonable
searches and seizures.
According to the ACLU lawsuit, the
individuals were detained even though Thomas Chabot, the state trooper who
stopped the van, confirmed that the license and registration of driver Carlos
Tamup were valid, and that Tamup had no criminal record. Chabot nonetheless
proceeded to open the doors of the vehicle and, by utilizing Tamup as a
translator, requested all the passengers to also provide identification. When
some did not produce any ID, Chabot asked them if they possessed any documents
demonstrating their U.S. citizenship, which none were able to produce. After
some further delays, the trooper advised them that they would all be escorted to
the Office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Providence. According to
the complaint, Chabot instructed Tamup that if any passenger attempted to escape
from the van en route to Providence, that passenger would be shot.
"Since the license and registration papers of the van's driver
were valid and there was never any suggestion of criminal activity, the
questioning and detention of the passengers was clearly based on one element:
their ethnic appearance. This is the essence of racial profiling," said ACLU of
Rhode Island Executive Director Steven Brown. "That state police officials have
unequivocally supported these actions demonstrates the need for legislation to
restrict these problematic law enforcement practices."
The ACLU of
Rhode Island issued a detailed report last week calling for such legislation
after documenting the continuing problem of racial profiling on the state's
highways. That report is online at
www.riaclu.org/documents/RacialProfilingReport0107_000.pdf
In today's lawsuit, the ACLU charges that the state police "knew
or should have known" that the search, seizure and detention of the 14
individuals were without reasonable or probable cause and were therefore
unlawful. The lawsuit seeks a declaratory judgment that the defendants
violated the constitutional rights of the driver and passengers, and an award of
damages and attorneys' fees.
In a related action, last month the
ACLU filed an open records lawsuit against the Rhode Island State Police after
the agency refused to release copies of its traffic enforcement policies or the
videotape of the van stop that was recorded on the police cruiser's
camera.
The July 11 van stop has generated significant controversy
in the civil rights community. In September, more than a dozen organizations
sharply criticized State Police Superintendent Steven Pare's response to the
incident, in which he rejected any suggestion of racial profiling, and instead
claimed that the police "acted professionally and appropriately" in conducting
the stop. Among other things, the groups noted that Pare never explained why the
trooper, who was on speed radar patrol, chose to leave his post to pull over the
driver, whose only infraction was failing to use a turn signal, not speeding; or
why the trooper demanded identification, as well as citizenship papers, from the
passengers when there was no suspicion of criminal activity.
The
civil rights groups also noted that Pare's support of the trooper's actions in
calling immigration officials came less than a month after a state police
representative misleadingly told a large community forum that the state police
do not seek to enforce immigration laws. The groups have further claimed that
Pare's approval of the detention has encouraged a "chill" in the Latino
community, where residents are fearful of contacting the police to report crimes
lest their own immigration status be
investigated.
