Racial Profiling – Minnesota
"When those sworn to protect and serve the nation discriminate based on race, religion, or ethnicity, it reinforces the idea that human rights and constitutional protections only apply to certain groups of people."
–
Joe Kirchhof, AIUSA
How Minnesota Rates in Protection From Racial Profiling
Minnesota's racial profiling laws are empowered by a pragmatic and effective definition. This definition acknowledges that racial profiling almost always (in addition to be being based on their race, ethnicity, or national origin) contains multiple other characteristics such as gender, age, or geographic location. Moreover, Minnesota's racial profiling law ignores the very real problem of racial profiling against religious minorities, who have been increasingly targeted since September 11, 2001. Furthermore, it fails to address racial profiling during pedestrian stops by police. Pedestrian stops are a very common form of racial profiling in urban environments such as Minneapolis-St. Paul. Although Minnesota's laws did require ongoing data collection, the provisions requiring the collection of data expired on December 31, 2002. Currently, there is no ongoing requirement to collect data. This will inhibit the police's and the public's ability to continuously evaluate the extent of the problem, where it most frequently occurs, as well as the effectiveness of future changes in training and discipline. Moreover, the law does not give the public the right to go into court and ask a judge to order the police to stop racially profiling local residents and motorists.Protection from racial profiling: Insufficient
Members of Congress supporting the End Racial Profiling Act of 2004:
Representatives Betty McCollum and Collin C. Peterson