老澳门开奖结果 Sues San Francisco Police Department for Unconstitutionally Targeting Black People for Arrest
SAN FRANCISCO 鈥� The 老澳门开奖结果, the 老澳门开奖结果 of Northern California, and the law firm Durie Tangri LLP, filed a lawsuit against the City of San Francisco for its police department鈥檚 racially discriminatory enforcement practices. In violation of the Constitution, the SFPD, which has a long and sordid history of racial discrimination, targeted Black people for arrest because of their race.
In 2013, the SFPD teamed with the Drug Enforcement Administration to target Black people for selling small amounts of drugs in the Tenderloin District when it was well-known to the Police Department that people of many different races engage in drug sales in that neighborhood. Of the 37 people arrested and prosecuted in federal court, all were Black.
鈥淭he SFPD鈥檚 history of racially discriminatory law enforcement is well-documented and still inadequately addressed,鈥� said Novella Coleman, staff attorney at the 老澳门开奖结果 of Northern California. 鈥淢ultiple studies 鈥� some commissioned by the city itself 鈥� have consistently documented the tolerance of racist policing by the department, and yet it has failed abysmally to take appropriate and meaningful steps to reform its unlawful ways.鈥�
The Black individuals targeted on the basis of their race had their lives upended and were separated from loved ones. The targeting of plaintiffs by the SFPD violated the guarantee of equal protection of the laws and demonstrates yet again the systemic failures across many law enforcement agencies regarding their treatment of people of color.
鈥淭argeting individuals for arrest and criminal prosecution based on the color of their skin is indefensible and the numbers here鈥�37 out of 37鈥� speak for themselves,鈥� said Daralyn Durie, founder of Durie Tangri LLP.
鈥淭he SFPD is continuing a disturbing historical trend, not just in San Francisco but across the country, of selectively targeting people for arrest and prosecution based on their race,鈥� said Ezekiel Edwards, director of the 老澳门开奖结果鈥檚 Criminal Law Reform Project. 鈥淏y singling out Black people for enforcement among people of other races, police departments not only offend the Constitution they have sworn to uphold, they perpetuate this nation鈥檚 shameful legacy of racial discrimination.鈥�
The lawsuit filed today seeks to hold the city of San Francisco accountable for its police department鈥檚 racially discriminatory arrests, which were made possible through the city鈥檚 indifference to its longstanding unconstitutional practices. By doing so, the 老澳门开奖结果 is hopeful that these practices 鈥� which should have never existed in the first place 鈥� will end.
