A high-profile lawsuit filed by the NAACP over alleged racial profiling by the Maryland State Police can proceed to trial, a federal judge ruled this week.
U.S. Magistrate Judge James Bredar ruled in an opinion made public Monday that complaints from black motorists against six Maryland State troopers ? who are accused of making stops and searches in the 1990s on the basis of race ? have enough validity to allow a jury to hear the claims.
The motorists? lead attorney, Douglas R. M. Nazarian, praised the decision.
“It validates what we?ve been saying all along about the way the state police treated these folks and African-Americans in general,” he said.
In 2003, Maryland?s Board of Public Works approved a settlement that ended portions of the suit and caused the state police to enact major reforms. The suit brought national attention to the issue of “driving while black,” supporters said.
The agreement required Maryland State troopers to seek written permission from motorists to search vehicles, as well as distribute informational pamphlets about how to file complaints.
“These folks all stepped up 10 years ago and took a very courageous stance about what had happened to them and took action,” Nazarian said. “Ten years ago, no one was paying attention to any of this, but it was happening to real people.”
Although portions of the suit have been settled, the motorists? requests for monetary damages march on, Nazarian said.
Judge Bredar also ruled that the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People could not sue the Maryland State Police as an entity nor several top commanders, a decision David R. Moore, an assistant attorney general, who represents the police, called “significant.”
Nazarian said he “respectfully” disagrees with that portion of Bredar?s ruling.
“These are hard claims to bring,” he said. “The fact that we?ve got six troopers still in this tells us there?s really something there.”
Baltimore City NAACP President Marvin “Doc” Cheatham said that despite police reforms, black citizens are still being profiled.
“We know that we?re getting profiled. It?s just getting harder to prove it,” he said. “We?re excited by the fact that this suit has not gone away because it keeps the public?s attention on this issue.”
