Racial Profiling – Nebraska
"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."
–
Robert Schultz, AIUSA
How Nebraska Rates in Protection From Racial Profiling
While Nebraska's racial profiling laws seek to address the problem of police illegally stopping and searching pedestrians as well as motorists, the law's effectiveness is undermined by an anemic definition of the problem. By only banning profiling "solely" based on race, ethnicity, or national origin, it essentially allows police to utilize profiles that include other factors (such as gender or age) in addition to race, ethnicity, or national origin. Accordingly, while it may be illegal in Nebraska to profile African-Americans, it is not illegal to profile African-American men. Moreover, Nebraska's racial profiling law ignores the very real problem of racial profiling against religious minorities, who have been increasingly targeted since September 11, 2001. Finally, 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 area residents and motorists.Protection from racial profiling: Virtually None
Members of Congress supporting the End Racial Profiling Act of 2004: None