ACLU case studies and legal impact

ACLU

Racial profiling cases have always been an integral part of the American Civil Liberties Union's (ACLU) docket. Cases involving racial profiling have become increasingly high profile, if not actually more prevalent, since September 11 created mass witch hunts against Muslims and Muslim-Americans. According to the ACLU (2011), "Racial profiling continues to be a prevalent and egregious form of discrimination in the United States. This unjustifiable practice remains a stain on American democracy and an affront to the promise of racial equality."

Cases involving racial profiling or accusations thereof range from those that deal with individual cases (such as drivers being pulled over for no reason other than they were black) and collective cases. Collective cases include recent ones involving an ACLU=led lawsuit against the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). The lawsuit was successful, resulting in "the first time ever" that an agency within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security was caused to "substantially alter its policies and training procedures," (ACLU 2011). Another landmark case spearheaded by the ACLU caused the state of Arizona Department of Public Safety to agree "to collect and review statistical data relating to traffic stops and vehicle searches statewide," (ACLU 2005). The data collected will be used to better tabulate instances of racial profiling so that it can be systematically and scientifically addressed.

Of course, the simplest way of staying out of court is to stop all racial profiling immediately. In order to prevent racial profiling in practice, organizations need strong management. An organizational code of ethics is only the first step towards creating an organizational culture that does not tolerate racial profiling of any sort. Putting that code of ethics into practice requires strong leadership. Managers must both create and enforce policies that prevent racial profiling.

In the case of the TSA, the organization needs to stop detaining people based on "the way they look," rather than on the way they behave or display other more real signals of suspicious activity (ACLU, 2011). Appearance alone can never determine who among a slew of passengers is a threat. However, the TSA does not have effective enough training programs that can help their personnel correctly identify suspicious passengers. Therefore, one of the most important programs the TSA can adopt to stop racial profiling is improved training. Profiling will always be a part of the job of TSA's workers, but the profiling must be intelligent. Building on the latest empirical data, an effective training program not only protects Americans from terrorists, it also protects Americans from civil rights violations.