Of the many forms of police harassment faced by communities of color, driving while back is probably the most well-known, well-documented, and prominently used method. The underpinnings for police to racially profile black motoriststhe authority of the police to forcibly detain motorists for minor traffic infractions as a pretext to search a motorist and his carhas even been enshrined by the Supreme Court.
Recently, a federal court has given constitutional credence to an even grosser abuse of citizens by police: Lets call it parking while black. In
United States v. Johnson, decided in May, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals voted 21 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.
If the Fourth Amendment doctrine that allows police to use minor traffic infractions such as changing lanes without signaling as a pretext to search citizensa practice that is overwhelmingly applied to black citizensis allowed to extend to parking, the consequences would be grave. Should the full 7th Circuitor eventually the Supreme Courtchoose 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. Again, this prospect is staggering;
recent statistics show convincingly that black motorists are stopped far more often than white motorists.
