On April 17th, a most remarkable thing happened in Washington, DC. Illinois Senator Richard Durbin gaveled to order a hearing on racial profiling. The hearing, held in the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights, marked the very first time that the Congress of the United States has considered questions on racial profiling since before the terrorist attacks of the 9/11.
The American Civil Liberties Union has been working on redressing the problems of racial profiling for many years. From condemning the practice that targets African American and Latino drivers to higher numbers of traffic stops and humiliating consent searches by police, to working to curb unnecessary and unwarranted surveillance and government intrusion into the lives of individuals based on their ethnicity and religion since 9/11, the ACLU and the ACLU of Illinois have vigorously advocated for steps to reverse racial profiling in our nation.
Separately, the ACLU of Illinois submitted testimony to the Subcommittee on our experience in combating racial profiling. We noted that the Illinois Traffic Stop Statistical Study Act of 2003 – championed by then-State Senator Barack Obama – has provided critical accountability of police and stands as one of the nation’s best systems for collecting and analyzing statistical data about the traffic stops.
The ACLU noted that the “Illinois Study Act is arguably the best statute of its kind in the nation. It applies to every state and local police agency, and every traffic stop. It mandates collection of rich and relevant data. It requires annual analysis by a statewide agency, and disclosure to the general public of that analysis of the underlying raw statistical data. Every year, it spurs a salutary public discussion about police practices, in the new media and among policy makers and other stakeholders.”
We noted for the Subcommittee that the Study Act is now scheduled to sunset in July 2015 and needs to be made permanent.
We also used the testimony as an opportunity to raise publicly concerns about on-going problems related to racial profiling in Illinois. We noted that data reported under the Study Act continues to reveal each year problems with consent searches – especially by the Illinois State Police. In the seven years from 2004 until 2010, Hispanic motorists were 2.7 to 4.0 times more likely to be consent searched by ISP troopers, and African American motorists were 1.8 to 3.2 times more likely. On the other hand, white motorists who were subjected to consent searches by the ISP are far more likely than Hispanic motorists and African American motorists to be found with contraband. The numbers here are staggering. In 2010, for example, white motorists who were consent searched were 89% more likely than Hispanic motorists to have contraband and 26% more likely than African American motorists. The ACLU of
We also noted that the Racial Profiling Prevention and Data Oversight Board, created by the Study Act to make appropriate recommendations, was never appointed and never met. The ACLU of Illinois continues to believe that the Board would be a valuable tool in advancing the dialogue statewide on combating racial profiling.
The ACLU of Illinois is grateful to Senator Durbin for calling this hearing on such an important subject and for inviting our testimony.