Racial Profiling – Utah
"Increased national security should not equate to decreased civil liberties. All people are entitled to due process and other basic human rights and constitutional protections."
–
Erin Callahan, AIUSA
How Utah Rates in Protection From Racial Profiling
While Utah's racial profiling law 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 Utah to profile African-Americans, it is not necessarily a violation of this law to profile African-American men and boys. Moreover, Utah's racial profiling law ignores the very real problem of racial profiling against religious minorities, who have been increasingly targeted since September 11, 2001. Moreover, even in those areas that are litterally plagued by this problem, the law does not give the public the right to go into court and ask a judge to order the local police department 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:
Representative Jim Matheson