NYCLU Applauds Decision Upholding NYC’s Racial Profiling Ban

“We’re pleased the court has rejected the PBA’s attempt to scuttle the city’s ban on racial profiling,” said NYCLU Executive Director Donna Lieberman. “This law provides an important opportunity for New Yorkers who are subject to racial profiling or other discriminatory behavior the opportunity to vindicate their rights and make real reform without allowing anyone to sue for financial gain. This decision is a victory for all New Yorkers, including the police because it builds trust and respect between officers and the communities they serve.”

The End Discriminatory Policing Act requires police officers to base law-enforcement decisions on a person’s actions, not their skin color, ethnicity, religion, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation or immigration status and prohibits lawsuits seeking money damages, while allowing suits seeking policy reforms. It comes in response to documented discriminatory policing practices by the NYPD, including a skyrocketing stop-and-frisk regime that targeted innocent black and Latino New Yorkers and a suspicionless surveillance program that monitored New York City’s Muslim community.

The law passed the New York City Council last June and overrode a veto by Mayor Bloomberg in August, but the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association and the Sergeants Benevolent Association sued to block the law in October 2013.

The NYCLU filed a brief in the case, supporting the law.