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Our Members 
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Cosponsor the End Racial Profiling Act of 2011 S. 1670Advocacy Letter - 10/18/11 Source: The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights
Dear Senator: On behalf of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, and the undersigned groups, we urge you to cosponsor the End Racial Profiling Act of 2011 (ERPA). Passage of this bill is needed to put an end to racial profiling by law enforcement officials and to ensure that individuals are not prejudicially stopped, investigated, arrested, or detained based on their race, ethnicity, national origin, or religion. Policies primarily designed to impact certain groups are ineffective and often result in the destruction of civil liberties for everyone. ERPA would establish a prohibition on racial profiling, enforceable by declaratory or injunctive relief. The legislation would mandate training for federal law enforcement officials on racial profiling issues. As a condition of receiving federal funding, state, local, and Indian tribal law enforcement agencies would be required to collect data on both routine and spontaneous investigatory activities. The Department of Justice would be authorized to provide grants to state and local law enforcement agencies for the development and implementation of best policing practices, such as early warning systems, technology integration, and other management protocols that discourage profiling. Lastly, this important legislation would require the Attorney General to issue periodic reports to Congress assessing the nature of any ongoing racial profiling. Racial profiling involves the unwarranted screening of certain groups of people, assumed by the police and other law enforcement agents to be predisposed to criminal behavior. Multiple studies have proven that racial profiling results in the misallocation of law enforcement resources and therefore a failure to identify actual crimes that are planned and committed. By relying on stereotypes rather than proven investigative procedures, the lives of innocent people are needlessly harmed by law enforcement agencies and officials. Racial profiling results in a loss of trust and confidence in local, state, and federal law enforcement. Although most individuals are taught from an early age that the role of law enforcement is to fairly defend and guard communities from people who want to cause harm to others, this fundamental message is often contradicted when these same defenders are seen as unnecessarily and unjustifiably harassing innocent citizens. Criminal investigations are flawed and hindered because people and communities impacted by these stereotypes are less likely to cooperate with law enforcement agencies they have grown to mistrust. We can begin to reestablish trust in law enforcement if we act now. Current federal law enforcement guidance and state laws provide incomplete solutions to the pervasive nationwide problem of racial profiling. Your support for the End Racial Profiling Act of 2011 is critical to its passage. We urge you to cosponsor this vital legislation, which will ensure that federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies are prohibited from impermissibly considering race, ethnicity, national origin, or religion in carrying out law enforcement activities. To become a cosponsor, please contact Bill Van Horne in Senator Cardin’s office at bill_vanhorne@cardin.senate.gov or (202) 224-4524. Thank you for your valued consideration of this critical legislation. Sincerely,
Adhikaar African American Ministers in Action American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee American Civil Liberties Union American Humanist Association Arab American Action Network Arab-American Family Support Center Asian American Justice Center, member of Asian American Center for Advancing Justice Asian Law Caucus Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance Bill of Rights Defense Committee Blacks in Law Enforcement in America The Brennan Center for Justice Casa Esperanza Center for National Security Studies Counselors Helping (South)Asians/Inc. Disciples Justice Action Network Drug Policy Alliance DRUM - Desis Rising Up and Moving Healing Communities Prison Ministry and Reentry Project Human Rights Watch Indo-American Center Institute Justice Team, Sisters of Mercy of the Americas Japanese American Citizens League Korean American Resource & Cultural Center Korean Resource Center Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service Muslim Advocates Muslim Legal Fund of America Muslim Public Affairs Council NAACP NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd National African American Drug Policy Coalition, Inc. National Alliance of Faith and Justice National Asian American Pacific Islander Mental Health Association National Asian Pacific American Bar Association National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers National Association of Social Workers National Black Police Association National Congress of American Indians National Council of La Raza National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Action Fund National Korean American Service & Education Consortium National Legal Aid and Defender Association NETWORK, A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby OCA Open Society Policy Center Pax Christi USA Rights for All People Rights Working Group Sahara of South Florida, Inc. Sentencing Project Sojourners Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund Sikh Coalition Sneha, Inc. South Asian Americans Leading Together StoptheDrugWar.org Union for Reform Judaism United Methodist Church, General Board of Church and Society UNITED SIKHS US Human Rights Network |
