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NMA Efforts To Curtail Racial Profiling
A significant part of the solution to racial profiling rests with curtailing pretextual traffic stops. First of all, legislation is needed to prevent the introduction of any evidence gathered from an unwarranted vehicle search. This would not stop police from searching vehicles when they have a defensible reason to suspect illegal contraband is present. It only prevents searches that are truly based on race, ethnicity, or some other non-criminal characteristic. Furthermore, police officers should not be permitted to even ask to conduct a vehicle search unless they can explain what they are looking for and why they believe this illegal item will be found in the driver's vehicle.
Laws dealing with racial profiling have cropped up across the nation and now require police agencies to create and enforce policies meant to prevent racial profiling. (Such laws are currently on the books in Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, and West Virginia.) On the federal level, the "End Racial Profiling Act" has been introduced in Congress, but a vote on this bill has not yet taken place.
These legislative measures are laudable, but more needs to be done. A combined approach consisting of both legislation and litigation is needed to put an end to racial profiling. For a lasting solution to this injustice, the issue of pretextual traffic stops must be addressed, and unjustifiable searches resulting from such stops must be prohibited. The National Motorists Association will work with minority communities to ensure that the proper legislative and legal initiatives succeed. Together, we can put an end to racial profiling.
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Information
- NMA's Real World Driving Tips
- NMA's Seven Sensible Signals
- Making Sense of Highway Crash Data
- Better Roads Save Lives
- The Realities Of Racial Profiling
- The Supreme Court And Racial Profiling
- NMA Efforts To Curtail Racial Profiling
- DOT Numbering Requirements
- What Determines Traffic Citations?
- Signal Retiming Study
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School Bus Stop Laws
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