Arguments Against Racial Profiling

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Profiling is suspecting someone of committing a crime or being guilty based on their race, ethnicity, national origin, or religion instead of probable cause or evidence. The U.S. Supreme Court has held that racial profiling violates the constitutional requirement that all people are to be given equal protection of the law. The center of this debate has been a talk about inequities in the basic functioning of the criminal justice system. This includes police force and aggressiveness, arrest and prosecution policies, the harshness of criminal sentences, etc. Although the federal government does play a role in policing/profiling, it's the state and local government that handle day to day operations. One solution to profiling is to increase the …show more content…

Profiling has become a huge topic in the U.S currently along with police brutality. Many different people are affected by this but African Americans, Muslims, and Mexicans are the main people targeted with racial profiling. The federal government has tried to put an end to this, but it really hasn't worked well and there's still a lot of current situations still happening regarding racial profiling. In an article by The Denver Post, not too long ago, Colorado Springs police were accused of racial profiling after a video came out of them handcuffing, searching, and pointing a gun and a taser at two African American men when they had absolutely no evidence of them doing anything crime related. In the video, it shows the younger brother, Benjamin, already outside the car, being handcuffed for no apparent reason. The older brother Ryan Brown, repeatedly asked the officers why they pulled them over and if they are arresting them, but they gave him no response. They then, pulled Ryan out of the car and pushed him onto the ground using excessive force. The police officer took the camera from Ryan's hand and ended the video. Attorneys for the American Civil Liberties …show more content…

This will help because the government could make more strict rules on policing that could lessen racial profiling. In an article by “Center for American Progress” talks about what the federal government could do to watch over policing more. “The DOJ should take a more proactive role in providing guidance to local police agencies about best practices—for issues such as use of force, racially discriminatory practices, or officer accountability—before police department practices deteriorate to the point of systematically violating the civil rights of members of the community” (Jawando 20-24). The Department of Justice should involve themselves more in day to day police actions teach them the best practices to lower brutality and racial profiling. Also they should remind the police of the amendments and how the 14th amendment clearly states, “No State shall ... deny to any person its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” This article is very reliable because the author, Michele Jawando, is an attorney and social justice advocate working at the intersection of policy, political strategy, and media. She currently works as the Vice President for Legal Progress at American

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