DES MOINES – The ACLU is fed up with what they call “racist pretextual traffic stops” where police use any reason to stop persons of color and then slap them with charges, and a key court case in Iowa could make these stops a thing of the past.
According to a bulletin from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) sent this weekend:
This Tuesday, September 18 at 1:30 p.m., the Iowa Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in a case that has the potential to dramatically reduce racial profiling in Iowa: State of Iowa v. Scottize Brown.
The case focuses on a key element of many racial profiling traffic stops: pretexual stops. A pretextual stop is one that police say they made for a legal reason — like a tail-light being out — but which is a actually pretext because in truth they made the stop simply because of a vague suspicion. Allowing police to make the stop based on a suspicion or hunch all too often allows for racial bias to drive decision-making. For example, police may cite a failure to use a turn signal, an equipment violation, or not coming to a full stop. But the real reason is what many people of color aptly call “driving while black or brown.”
Unfortunately, in 1996 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that this type of stop is not unconstitutional under the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. That’s where the Brown challenge — being made under the Iowa Constitution, which has greater protections from unreasonable stops and seizures — comes into play.
Scottize Brown, a Black woman living in Waterloo, was stopped by a police officer under the pretext that one of her two license plate lamps was not working and because she drove through a yellow light that turned red. Neither action is illegal. Later, the officer testified that his actual reason for stopping her was that he was “curious about vehicle owner’s reported gang affiliation.” The owner wasn’t even Ms. Brown and that was not a legitimate or lawful reason for him to stop the car.
Ms. Brown is asking the Court to overturn a lower court decision convicting her of an OWI and driving with a suspended license because the evidence the conviction was based on resulted from an unlawful, pretextual stop. The ACLU of Iowa has partnered with the Iowa-Nebraska Conference of the NAACP, the League of United Latin American Citizens of Iowa, and 1000 Kids for Iowa to support Scottize Brown by filing an amicus brief in the case.
The ACLU says that on Thursday, you can watch the oral arguments, live-streamed on the Iowa Supreme Court YouTube channel or attend a brown bag watch party at the ACLU of Iowa offices in Des Moines, starting at 1 p.m. It will be a half-hour of discussion about Scottize Brown’s case, pretextual stops, and efforts to stop racial profiling, followed by watching the oral arguments together as a group.
blacks do more crime hense they are stopped more let the law do there job leave them alone to get the job done. Stupid ACLU needs to go bye bye .
most of the people in jail are black I think that sums it up. ACLU should just shut the F%#@ up and let the police do there jobs.
You are an idiot. Look at the jail population of Cerro gordo county.
Who cares about stupid CG co I am talking about Iowa and the nation as a whole.
There is ALWAYS a disproportionate number of Blacks in CG jail..Why is that? Cuz they get arrested..a lot! Who is the idiot?
Why do they get arrested because they are as a whole the lower end of society they were slaves and nothing more that is what they were bred to do nothing more with no masters telling them what to do they turn to crime
There goes the neighborhood!
ACLU – in the past the working mans savior = has been taken over by democratic party and used to futhur of their political objectives – such as ILLEGAL immigration . BS MSM propaganda.
Totally illegal to drive around with a broken license plate light! Kudos to the observant officer who spotted the infraction and used to take a drunk driving scumbag off the street
in the past a study was done to see why there is more blacks in prison then whites, what a waste of money, I could tell you for free. Because more blacks commit crimes and get caught then whites. end of story
If your glorifying that ghetto gangster look your damn right you need and better be pulled over. Typical is those strange looking hairdos looking like a messed up mop. Next be the thick heavy chains and other bling signifying your status as a inner city drug lord. Throw in those baggy pants with their ass hanging out like you don’t care. A nice big face tat looking like graffiti on the side of a train tops it all off. If this doesn’t scream ‘pull me over I dare you’ attitude then nothing does. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out in some places this does come across as a public safety concern. Everybody out their knows that black people have a really big problem with taking was does not belong to them. No way should people give up their right to have what is called COMMON SENSE when it comes to their safety!
She was guilty as hell of DUI and driving under a suspended license. End of story. It doesn’t matter what color she is. We have one in our neighborhood who drives without insurance, suspended license, and D.U.I. and does it with four kids in the car that are not strapped in. (child endangerment). She knows what she is doing and doesn’t care. If she hits your car or your family’s car it is on you.
aclu= la raza = Anti American !
You do realize that the ACLU has defended many conservatives and has defended the 2nd amendment.
Get a clue and quit being a racist.
And you have examples of this?? Didn’t think so.