Racial Profiling

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) defines racial profiling as "the discriminatory practice by law enforcement officials of targeting individuals for suspicion of crime based on the individual's race, ethnicity, religion or national origin," and is common practice in the U.S. Justice System. 

The leadership conference performed a study in Arizona and found "black drivers (4.5%) were twice as likely as White drivers (2.1%) to be arrested during a traffic stop, while Hispanic drivers (65%) were more likely than White (56.2%) or Black (55.8%) drivers to receive a ticket. In addition, Whites (9.7%) were more likely than Hispanics (5.9%) to receive a written warning, while Whites (18.6%) were more likely than Blacks (13.7%) to be verbally warned by police." When it came to searching minority motorists after a traffic stop, "Black (9.5%) and Hispanic (8.8%) motorists stopped by police were searched at higher rates than Whites (3.6%)." The "likelihood of experiencing a search did not change for Whites, Blacks, or Hispanics from 2002 to 2005." 

These statistics alarm me. I do not believe it is justified to use racial profiling because it sacrifices the fundamental rights of Americans for the sake of prejudice disguised as justice.