
President Bush issued the first broad ban on racial profiling by federal law enforcement agencies yesterday, but included exceptions permitting use of race and ethnicity to combat potential terrorist attacks.
The new policy covers about 120,000 officers at 70 federal agencies with law enforcement powers. It prohibits the use of "generalized stereotypes" based on race or ethnicity, and allows officers to consider them only as part of a specific description or tip from an informant.
"Routine patrol duties must be carried out without consideration of race," the Justice Department policy states. "Stereotyping certain races as having a greater propensity to commit crimes is absolutely prohibited."
The administration said the ban is the broadest ever issued by the federal government, and in some cases prohibits the use of race in ways that are not otherwise illegal or unconstitutional.
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"There are certain narrow sets of circumstances where race or ethnicity is a common-sense factor that you would consider along with other factors," Boyd said. "But federal law enforcement cannot simply use race with no other information that someone has committed a crime."
The administration billed the policy as a major step in fulfilling Bush's pledge in his first address to Congress -- in February 2001 -- that racial profiling is "wrong, and we will end it in America."
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The document cites the hypothetical case of a report by intelligence sources "that Middle Eastern terrorists are planning to use commercial jetliners as weapons by hijacking them at an airport in California during the next week."
"Before allowing men appearing to be of Middle Eastern origin to board commercial airplanes in California airports during the next week, Transportation Security Administration personnel, and other federal and state authorities, may subject them to heightened scrutiny," the document states.
Men appearing to be Saudis, presumably, won't be put to the inconvenience.
Even if their suitcases are ticking.
I wonder - is there a racial profile for United States citizens putting out feelers to the Taliban and selling arms to "America's greatest threat" Saddam Hussein?
Oh, yeah, right. That wasn't racial. That was a Republican thing.
You wouldn't understand.
Way to polarize a growing middle-class ethnic minority, kids. That's gonna do you a world of good in Michigan next year.
(Funny, how after just a few years my outrage at the avalanche of dreadful things these people are doing is being given a run for its money by my shock and awe at how really stupid they are.
Well, mostly).