Racial profiling on South Carolina Interstates
I went to the South Carolina Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers Blues, Bar-B-Q and Bar CLE in Greenwood, S.C. last Friday, and had a good time. One way I've found to stay excited about criminal defense and to stay current on what everyone else is doing in the field is to attend as many SCACDL and NACDL conferences as I can find time for. It is one way to re-charge and be reminded of why we do what we do.
The Greenwood CLE is always fun, coinciding with a blues and bar-b-q festival. This year I skipped the bands and the bar-b-q, but had a good time nonetheless, spent some time with old friends and learned a thing or two at the conference.
William H. Buckman traveled from New Jersey to give a presentation on methods of proving racial profiling in interstate cases, a topic that needs to be given more attention in the South where Jim Crow is alive and well on our interstates. I took a look at Mr. Buckman's website, where he has shared various materials on racial profiling challenges, and it looks like an excellent resource.
The Fourth Amendment is useless as a tool for specifically challenging racial profiling, but Buckman's suggestion is to make a threshold prima facie showing of racial disparity under the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause, sufficient to convince the Court to grant greater leeway in discovery. Certain documents can be obtained under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), which should allow for more complete discovery of agency records if a prima facie case of racial profiling/ an equal protection violation can be made.
Buckman has been successful in New Jersey in racial profiling litigation, exposing the methods used by the New Jersey State Police on the N.J. turnpike. In South Carolina, there are several "hotspots" where racial profiling occurs as well - I-85 through Spartanburg and Oconee County is one, and I-95 through Dillon County is another. It is time for more South Carolina defense lawyers to fight racial profiling on South Carolina's highways.
Attorneys don't often take drug trafficking cases to trial, usually because if the suppression hearing is lost there is no good defense at trial, and it is well known that S.C. judges are loathe to suppress any significant quantity of drugs. But if we do not challenge these cases consistently, nothing is going to change. Cops are going to continue what they are doing, and judges are going to continue slapping down the defense in the rare case that is challenged. We need to make some noise and bring more attention to what is being done to minorities on the roadside.
What's the problem, if drugs are being found and taken off the street? The problem is the thousands of innocent persons who are detained, harassed, and whose cars are tossed and sometimes dismantled, because they are Black or Hispanic. The problem is that lawyers and judges need to be enforcing the State and Federal Constitution, and not giving law enforcement license to break the law and lie in our courtrooms in order to obtain convictions or in order to fund their agencies.
Comments
I agree. Something has to be done because while a small amount of drugs by a few non-innocents are found, too many people are stopped and harrassed just because of their race. Raising awareness is the only way to stop this.
Posted by: Jake | July 27, 2008 9:17 AM
I am currently in Iraqi and have been informed that my brother again has been a victim of racial profiling in the state of South Carolina by the Charleston police department. He has been in a all white neighborhood in Summerville, where the police came to the home and stated they had a warrant for another individual who was white. When that individual wasn't there he was arrested and taken to jail without having his rights read to him and unware of the charges in which he was being taken in for. Several weeks prior to that in the same neighborhood he and the white friend had been walking down the street and the police stopped and told my brother to get on the ground and was searched. In the process of him being searched his money was taken and not returned. South Carolina though my home is one of the most racist states I have ever lived in and even after arguing the reason for the arrest he was given an extremely high bound that is not obtainable by my family. This incident took place approximately 3 weeks ago and my brother is still locked up for a crime he did not commit but because he is a Black male he is still locked up and the white male who supposedly committed the offense is still free and not being pursued by the police.
Posted by: Fanta Cannon | July 5, 2009 10:36 AM
While driving through the State of South Carolina, my husband was pulled over for Vehicle License Violation; whereby, South Carolina does not allow you to have chrome around your license plate. However, we are from Georgia and it was proven when the officer (Officer Chastain) was provided with a valid Georgia Driver's License and proof of insurance. After it was proven that we were not citizens of South Carolina, my husband was asked to step out of the car and stand against the bumper of his vehicle on the passenger side. Officer Chastain began to ask my husband questions; to wit: Is this your car?; Is everything in the car yours?; Do you have any weapons in the car?; Do you have any drugs in the car; etc. Once he was unable to find anything, he then provided him with a warning which was after he saw the black and blue sticker on his car and asked him about that. Is this legal? Does this mean if you are coming from another State, (let's say New York), you are going to be stopped for having something on your car that is illegal in the State of South Carolina; however, completely legal in the State in which you are a resident and suseptible to interrogation on the side of the road regarding matters that has nothing to do with the initial blue light.
Posted by: An Angry Wife | December 27, 2010 1:10 PM