Press Release
For Immediate Release: Contact: Edward Jackson
October 2, 2003 (202) 544-0200 x302 (202) 251-3984 (mobile)

(New York City) -- Amnesty International USA (AIUSA) today held in New York City its fourth in a national series of public hearings on racial profiling. The hearings, coordinated by AIUSA's US Domestic Human Rights Program, are designed to collect new data showing the ineffectiveness of discriminatory law enforcement practices that focus on race or ethnicity.

"Amnesty International USA wants to dispel the myth that Americans have to choose between their civil liberties and living in constant fear of terrorism and crime," said Josh Rubenstein, Director of AIUSA's Northeast Regional Office. "Our organization will use the compelling information gathered at these hearings to build on the current body of research, which has determined that race-focused law enforcement is divisive, a waste of resources, a human rights violation, and does nothing to protect the nation from terrorism."

As in previous cities, the New York hearing was marked by a wide array of compelling testimony from the victims of race-focused law enforcement techniques. Criminal justice experts and human and civil rights activists also devoted considerable time and resources to the hearings to highlight the divisive nature of targeting certain individuals based on nothing more than their race or ethnicity. In addition, these practices are a violation of basic human rights and fundamental American principles.

"Racial profiling is wrong," said Benjamin Todd Jealous, Director of AIUSA's US Domestic Human Rights Program. "Prior to September 11, public officials were moving toward eliminating law enforcement practices that focused on race or ethnicity. AIUSA is holding these hearings to gain a wide array of perspectives on the current status of racial profiling, to develop public policy recommendations that would end this type of racial discrimination, and to build public consensus for developing effective law enforcement policies that are fair for all communities."

"The post-September 11 era has heightened the occurrences of racial profiling and has raised awareness of the dire need for new legislation to curb such practices," explained former federal Judge Timothy K. Lewis, moderator of the hearings and Of Counsel at Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis, a firm with a long-standing commitment to public service. "These hearings will provide the first comprehensive analysis of what needs to be done to correct such practices as our country evolves in a time marked by terror and suspicion."

The next hearing will be held on October 18th and 20th in Chicago. The first three were held in September in San Francisco, Oakland, CA, and Tulsa, OK.

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