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COURTS CANNOT CONSTITUTIONALLY CONDONE POLICE STOPS BASED ON “PARKING WHILE BLACK”

On Behalf of | Oct 13, 2016 | Firm News

Respectfully, I assert any court that truly believes in the 4th amendment, in privacy, in equality cannot and will not accept United States v. Johnson, decided in May, where the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals voted 2–1 to uphold a police search of a group of black people who were just sitting in a parked car. Fortunately, the entire circuit is going to rehear the case, which could decide whether the insidious practice of racial profiling of motorists on the highway will extend to racial profiling of motorists in parked cars. Should the full 7th Circuit—or eventually the Supreme Court—choose to uphold the current ruling, a police officer would have the constitutional authority to approach any motorist sitting in a parked car who may be violating a parking ordinance such as standing in a loading zone, near a fire hydrant, or within a few feet of an alley or private driveway; order all of the occupants out of the car; and then search the occupants and the car.