by Congressman Elijah E. Cummings
It was 1994 - the night they were to celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary. Charles and Etta Carter were driving through Maryland in search of a memorable evening.
In all probability, the traffic stop should never have occurred. The Carters are an elderly, law-abiding couple who were engaged in nothing more controversial than our American pastime of taking a ride in the family car.
The Carters
= trip down I-95 had begun uneventfully, and, at first, the flashing lights of the Maryland State Police cruiser seemed no more than a surprising irritation. Stopped by a roadside in Maryland, however, their evening of dreams would become a nightmare.During the two hours they were detained, the police subjected the Carters to an extensive and humiliating search which included the use of drug-sniffing dogs. Detained by a road in Maryland on the 40th anniversary of her wedding day, Mrs. Etta Carter was denied even the simple dignity of a nearby restroom.
Neither the police, nor their dogs, found any drugs, and no traffic citation was issued. When the police cruisers drove away, however, a daughter
=s wedding dress and the Carters= other belongings lay scattered along that American roadside - trampled and soiled by dogs.The aging couple would eventually receive a substantial legal settlement for the unconstitutional and unwarranted humiliation they had endured during that
Atraffic stop.@ Yet, no amount of money could restore their faith and assure them protection from future arbitrary police actions.Without probable cause or trial, and for no offense other than
Adriving while black,@ Charles and Etta Carter were sentenced to a lifetime of doubt about their safety in America.The Carters are not alone in their injury. The best evidence available indicates that, throughout the country, thousands of people of color are being stopped by the police and searched without probable cause.
Presently, there is no quantified analysis which documents the nation-wide extent of these acts of police injustice. As a result of Wilkins v. Maryland State Police, however, Maryland's State Police have been required to disclose detailed information about the Maryland motorists they stop and search.
The results are chilling to the conscience. During 1995-1997, for example, minorities accounted for 22% of both the motorists and the speeders along I-95. We were 34.5% of those stopped, however, and 77% of those who were both stopped and searched.
Minorities also were 76% of the travelers who, stopped and searched, were found to be innocent of carrying any contraband.
Racial profiling is unjust, unconstitutional and racially-divisive. The Wilkins evidence also demonstrates that targeting black people is ineffective as a police practice.
As a Member of Congress, and as an African American male, I cannot tolerate the practice of stopping and searching American citizens for no reason other than their race. The attitude demonstrated by too many law enforcement officers must change from inaccurately presuming the guilt of those who are
Adriving while black@ to respecting the fact that most of us are Adriving while innocent.@ This is the least that our Constitution requires of them.As a lawyer, however, I know that stopping racial profiling will require something more than anecdotal evidence. That is why I have joined Rep. John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) in co-sponsoring the
ATraffic Stops Statistics Study Act of 1999.@ It would require police nationwide to report racially-related information about traffic stops and searches to the Department of Justice - the same information which is bringing reform to Maryland.In the Congress and in the courts, we will not forget Robert Wilkins or Charles and Etta Carter. We will remind those police officers who have forgotten that the people remain the ultimate authority in America.
-The Honorable Elijah E. Cummings represents the 7th Congressional District of Maryland in the United States House of Representatives.