* WARNING: THIS IS AN UNOFFICIAL, INTRODUCTORY COPY OF THE BILL.
THE OFFICIAL COPY CONSIDERED BY THE CITY COUNCIL IS THE FIRST READER COPY.
INTRODUCTORY*
CITY OF BALTIMORE
COUNCIL BILL R
(Resolution)
Introduced by: Councilmember Welch
A RESOLUTION ENTITLED
A COUNCIL RESOLUTION concerning
title
In Support of Federal Legislation - S.1670 - End Racial Profiling Act of 2011
FOR the purpose of expressing strong support for this legislation that will prohibit racial profiling at the federal, state, local, and tribal level; urging the Honorable Chair and Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee to give the measure favorable consideration; requesting the Honorable Members of the Maryland Delegation to the 112th Congress to support the legislation, and; respectfully entreating the President of the United States to sign the Act into law.
body
Recitals
The End Racial Profiling Act is aimed at completely eliminating practices that demonize people with certain racial or religious backgrounds and yields little in return said the Democratic sponsors of the bill upon its introduction in October 2011. Senator Ben Cardin, the lead sponsor, said that racial profiling is ineffective: "The more resources that are spent investigating individuals solely because of their race or religion, the fewer resources are being directed at suspects actually demonstrating illegal behavior."
S. 1670 will prohibit racial profiling at all levels of government, and will make the prohibition enforceable through a court order. It will also mandate training to ensure law enforcement divisions cease racial profiling, and conditions federal funding for law enforcement programs on the adoption of anti-racial profiling guidelines. However, the bill will allow law enforcement officers to use certain aspects of racial profiling, such as using race, ethnicity, religion or national origin to decide on the scope and substance of law enforcement activity following an initial investigation, to define the scope of their work when there is "credible evidence" linking certain people with certain characteristics of a crime.
Senator Cardin joined members of the Maryland civil rights community at a March 26th rally, held at the Center for Urban Families, to end racial profiling in the wake of the murder of Sanford, Florida teenager Trayvon Martin, an unarmed 17 year old who was shot by a neighborhood watch volunteer on February 26 on his way home from a convenience store trip to buy candy and soda. The Senator stated: "the African-American community and other minority communities have a right to be outraged by the fact that young men are often singled out for suspicion and viewed as dangerous - even walking home from a convenience store. Profiling based on race, ethnicity, national origin or religion has no place in America."
The slaying of Trayvon Martin has resonated in black communities across the country, where, too often simply being a young black man is to put one's life in danger. Today marks the one-month anniversary of his death. On Sunday, many churches held "Hoodie Sunday" services, and today the NAACP will hold a rally and march. The Maryland Black Caucus is expected to invite their fellow legislators to wear hoodies on the floor Monday night to show solidarity with the supporters of Martin. The hoodie has become a symbol of outrage at his killing because it was the hoodie that allegedly led his killer to regard him as suspicious.
Too often our black people in Baltimore are singled out for official and personal harassment for nothing more than the color of their skin, the clothing that they wear, or the neighborhoods in which they live. The City Council will work with our friends and neighbors to make Dr. Martin Luther King's dream a reality, determined that our nation will become one in which people are not "judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF BALTIMORE, That this Body strongly supports this legislation that will prohibit racial profiling at the federal, state, local, and tribal level; urges the Honorable Chair and Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee to give the measure favorable consideration; requests the Honorable Members of the Maryland Delegation to the 112th Congress to support the legislation, and; respectfully entreats the President of the United States to sign the Act into law.
AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution be sent to the President, the Mayor, the Honorable Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, the Honorable Members of the Maryland Delegation to the 112th Congress, the Honorable Members of the Baltimore City Senate and House Delegations to the Maryland General Assembly, and the Mayor's Legislative Liaison to the City Council.
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