Court of Appeals State of New York THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, Respondent, - against- JERRY GLENN, a/k/a JEFFREY WILLIAMSON Defendant- Appellant. BRIEF AMICUS CURIAE OF 100 BLACKS IN LAW ENFORCEMENT WHO CARE Roslyn Powell Kirsten D. Levingston E. Joshua Rosenkranz Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law 161 Avenue of the Americas 12th Floor New York, NY 10013 (212) 998-6730 (212) 995-4550 (Facsimile) Attorney for Amicus 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement Who Care TABLE OF CONTENTS Table of Authorities………………………………………………………………... ii-v Interest of Amicus …………………………………………………………………. vi Summary of Argument……………………………………………………………. 1 If Police are Immunized from Any Inquiry Into Their Motive for Making Traffic Stops, They Will Inevitably Use That Freedom to Make Stops on the Basis of Race, A Practice That Undermines the Goals of Effective Law Enforcement……………………………………………………………………….. 2 A. Unbridled Police Discretion to Stop Drivers for Traffic Violations Leads to Stops Based on Race………………………………………... 3 B. Racially Biased Law Enforcement Practices Are Ineffective in Fighting Crime…………………………………………………………. 9 1. Research Proves that Race-Based Pretext Stops, and Other Forms of Racial Profiling, Are Utterly Ineffectual in Detecting Crime…………………………………………………………… 9 2. Sham Stops Undermine Police-Community Relations, A Key to Effective Policing…………………………………………… 12 C. The Court Should Play a Role in Addressing the Problem of Racial Bias in Law Enforcement………………………………………………. 16 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………. 21 TABLE OF AUTHORITIES FEDERAL CASES City of Chicago v. Morales, 527 U.S. 41 (1999)…………………………………... 8 Delaware v. Prouse, 440 U.S. 648 (1979)……………………………………..…... 8, 9 Illinois v. Gates, 462 U.S. 213 (1983)……………………………………….…….. 19 Maryland v. Wilson, 519 U.S. 408 (1997)……………………………………...….. 9 Michigan v. Long, 463 U.S. 1032 (1983)………………………………………..… 19 Whren v. United States, 571 U.S. 806 (1996)……………………………………… 16 United States v. Berrios, 501 F.2d 1207 (2d Cir. 1974)……………...……………. 15 United States v. Brigoni-Price, 422 U.S. 873 (1975)……………………………… 9 United States v. Leon, 468 U.S. 897 (1984)……………………………….……… 19 STATE CASES People v. Bigelow, 66 N.Y.2d 417 (1985)……………………………………..…. 19 People v. Camarre, 171 A.D.2d 1002 (4th Dep’t 1991)……………………….… 16 People v. Laws, 213 A.D.2d 226 (1st Dep’t 1995)…………...………...……….…. 16 People v. Llopis, 125 A.D.2d 416 (2d Dep’t 1986)……...………………………… 16 People v. Griminger, 71 N.Y.2d 635 (1988)……………………………….……… 19 People v. McIntosh, No. 81, 2001 N.Y. LEXIS 1978 (N.Y. Ct. App. June 28, 2001)……………………………………………………………………………….. 8 People v. P.J. Video, 68 N.Y.2d 296 (1986)………………………..…………… 3, 19 People v. Robinson, 74 N.Y.2d 773 (1989)………………………………………... 4, 9 People v. Torres, 74 N.Y.2d 224 (1989)…………………………………………… 19 People v. Washington, 238 A.D.2d 43 (1st Dep’t 1998)………….……………… 16 ii People v. Young, 241 A.D.2d 690 (3rd Dep’t 1997)…………………………….. 16 State v. Ladson, 979 P.2d 833 (Wash. 1999)…………………………………….… 20 State v. Soto, 734 A.2d 350 (N.J. Super. Ct. Law Div. 1996)…………..…………. 6 STATE STATUTES N.Y. State Constitution Article I § 12………………………………………...…… 19 V.T.L § 146………………………………………………………………………… 4 V.T.L § 375 (1)…………………………………………………………………… 4 V.T.L § 375 (30)…………………………………………………………….……. 4 V.T.L § 1129 (a)……………………………………………………….…………. 3 V.T.L § 1163 (a)…………………………………………………………………… 3 V.T.L § 1172……………………………………………………………..……….. 4 V.T.L § 1180 (a)………………………………………………….………….…… 3 MISCELLANEOUS Poll: Citizens Believe Cops Engage in Racial Profiling, Times Union (Albany), May 4, 2001……………………………………………………………………… 14 Abraham Abramovosky and Jonathan I. Edelstein, Pretext Stops and Racial Profiling After Whren v. United States: The New York and New Jersey Responses Compared, 63 Alb. L. Rev. 725 (2000)………………………………………….… 16 Jeff Brazil & Steve Berry, Color of Driver is Key to Stops in I-95 Videos; The Tapes Show that Most Stops and Searches by Volusia County’s Drug Squad Involve Minorities, Orlando Sentinel Trib., Aug. 23, 1993…..…………….…….... 7 Fox Butterfield, Cities Reduce Crime and Conflict Without New York Style Hardball, N.Y. Times, Mar. 4, 2000………….………………………………....… 13, 15 Diane Cardwell, Statistics Will Be Required On Police’s Stop and Frisk, N.Y. Times, Aug. 23, 2001……………………….……………………………………… 17 iii David Cole, No Equal Justice: Race and Class in the American Justice System (1999)…….………………………………………..……………………………. 6, 9 Henry Pierson Curtis, Statistics Show Pattern of Discrimination, Orlando Sentinel Trib., Aug. 23, 1993……………………………………………………...………… 7 Kevin Flynn, Police Union Backs Plan on Rapport: Community Leaders Say Commissioner’s Approach is a Good Step, N.Y. Times, Jan. 16, 2001…………………………………..……………………………………….….… 14 Jeffery Goldberg, The Color of Suspicion, N.Y. Times, June 20, 1999…………… 4 David A. Harris, Addressing Racial Profiling in the States: A Case Study of the “New Federalism” in Constitutional Criminal Procedure, 3 J. Const. Law 367 (2001)………………………………………….……..………. 17, 18 David A. Harris, Car Wars: The Fourth Amendment’s Death on the Highway, 66 Geo. Wash. L. Rev. 556 (1998)………………………………..………………… 4 David A. Harris, Driving While Black: Racial Profiling Our Nation’s Highways, An American Civil Liberties Special Report (June 1999)……………...……..…… 7 David A. Harris, The Stories, the Statistics, and the Law: Why “Driving While Black” Matters, 84 Minn. L. Rev. 265 (1999)……………………………………... 11 Human Rights Watch, Punishment and Prejudice: Racial Disparities in the War on Drugs (2000) ..………………………………………………………...………... 12 Robert Jackson, Eagle County Must Pay for Stopping Motorists: ACLU Wins $800,000 Settlement for Drivers Stopped Because They Fit A Drug Courier Profile, Denver Rocky Mountain News, Nov. 10, 1995…………………………… 10 Randall Kennedy, Race, Crime and the Law (1997)…………………………...….. 5 Patrick A. Langan, Lawrence A. Greenfeld, Steven K. Smith, Matthew R. Durose, and David J. Levin, Contacts Between Police and the Public, Findings From the 1999 National Survey (2001)…………………………………………………….… 14, 15 Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, Justice on Trial: Racial Disparities in the American Criminal Justice System (2001)…………………………….………...…. 11 Kenneth Lovett, Assembly Gets Race-Profiling Bill, N.Y. Post, May 25, 2001…… 17 Heather Mac Donald, The Myth of Racial Profiling, City Journal (Spring 2001).… 9 Lori Montgomery, New Police Policies Aim to Discourage Racial Profiling, Wash. Post, June 28, 2001…………………………………………………………. 12 iv New York State Attorney General, The New York City Police Department’s “Stop and Frisk” Practices, A Report to the People of New York from the Office of the Attorney General (1999)…………………………………………………...………. 6, 10, 11 Wesley MacNeil Oliver, With An Evil Eye and Unequal Hand: Pretextual Stops and Doctrinal Remedies to Racial Profiling, 74 Tul. L. Rev. 1409 (2000)….…..… 10 Tim O’Neil, Missouri Study on Traffic Stops Mirror Others; But Few States Have Gathered Such Detail on Racial Profiling; Issue Gains Steam Nationwide, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 3, 2001…………….…………………………..…… 7 Lydia Polgreen, Police to Collect Race Data in Stops, The Times Union (Albany) June 8, 2001……………….…………………………………………..…………… 17, 18 Deborah Ramirez, Jack McDevitt, Amy Farrell, Northeastern University, U.S. Dep’t of Justice, A Resource Guide on Racial Profiling Data Collection Systems: Promising Practices and Lessons Learned (2000)………………………………. 14, 15 William K. Rashbaum, Broad Plan Aims to Improve Police Rapport with Public, N.Y. Times, Jan. 15, 2001………………………………………..…………...…. 13, 14 Kit R. Roane, A Risky Trip through ‘White Man’s Pass’, U.S. News & World Report, Apr. 16, 2001………………………………………………………....…… 10 F. Romall Small, New Commissioner Outlines Strategy for Mount Vernon, N.Y. Times (Westchester County), Nov. 25, 1996…………………………………….… 13 Wendy Ruderman, Troopers Slow to End Racial Profiling, The Record (Bergen County N.J.) Apr. 4, 2001………………………………………...……………...… 18 Anthony C. Thompson, Stopping the Usual Suspects: Race and the Fourth Amendment, 74 N.Y.U. L. Rev. 956 (1999)……………………………..……….. 5, 6 Gary Webb, DWB; Police Stop Motorists to Check for Drugs, Esquire, Apr. 1, 1999……………………………………………………………………..…. 8 Jerry Zremski, Safer Streets: New Figures Show Violent Crime Fading, Buffalo News, May 21, 1998………………………………….……………………………. 13 v INTEREST OF AMICUS Formed in 1995, 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement Who Care is a New York-based organization of African-American law enforcement professionals dedicated to ensuring justice for those who traditionally have no voice in society. Its members are committed to aggressive, but fair law enforcement and to contributing to the increased vitality of the communities they serve by vigorously challenging racism, sexism and other forms of discrimination. As a core part of its mission, 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement regularly works with community organizations, offering them financial support and training to improve community-police relations. As police officers with firsthand experience in law enforcement, members of 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement understand as well as anyone that police officers must retain considerable discretion and latitude to carry out their duties effectively and that law enforcement has a responsibility to exercise this discretion in a manner that is fair and free of racial bias. We also know, from firsthand experience, that police officers are human beings, subject to the same foibles and biases – conscious or unconscious – that pervade society. In fashioning rules governing police conduct, it is therefore crucially important that police discretion be cabined in a way that minimizes