Democrats Push Anti-Profiling Measure

By Gabriella Landeros

Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) teamed with civil rights leaders and victims of racial profiling on Tuesday to bring awareness to a bill making its way through Congress.

Cardin’s End Racial Profiling Act, a bill he introduced last October, would prohibit law enforcement officials from discriminating against potential suspects based on their race. He testified about his bill during a hearing today before a Senate Judiciary subcommittee on Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights.

“Racial profiling is un-American,” Cardin told reporters following the hearing. “It is against our values, it wastes valuable resources, and it should have no place in modern law enforcement. It’s a time that we move forward in guaranteeing to every American in the country equal justice under the law.”

The issue of racial profiling has taken on new life in the weeks following the death of Florida teenager Trayvon Martin, who was gunned down by a neighborhood watchman following an alleged physical dispute between the two. At the time, police officers decided not to detain the shooter, George Zimmerman, due to the state’s Stand Your Ground laws, which protect shooters in cases of self-defense. Zimmerman, who is Hispanic-American, said that Martin, an African-American, attacked him. Meanwhile, those to the victim say that Martin was completely innocent.

Zimmerman reportedly went missing for days, but then turned himself into authorities last week after being charged with 2nd-degree murder.

It is unclear whether Cardin’s bill would be able to prevent a similar situation from occuring in the future. Though the measure explicitly forbids the use of profiling by state and local law enforcement units that apply for federal funding, it does not super-cede state laws, such as Stand Your Ground.

Cardin, however, said that Zimmerman may have not been charged initially due to Martin’s race.

“Trayvon may have been a victim of racial profiling, and I want make sure we have a federal and state investigation that prosecutes offenders to the fullest extent of the law.”

Rev. Jamal Harrison Bryant, a pastor of a mega-church in Baltimore who is serving as an adviser to Martin’s family, spoke at today’s event, and said that he likes what he sees in the bill.

“This piece of legislation being offered by my senator…is the last missing piece for the civil rights bill from 1965 that says there ought to be equality regardless of one’s gender or one’s race. Racial profiling is in fact an extension of racism in America that has been unaddressed and this brings closure to the divide in this county.”

“African Americans continue to face racial profiling on the streets and sidewalks of American cities,” added Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), who chaired today’s hearing.“Racial profiling undermines the rule of law and strikes at the core of our nation’s commitment to equal protection for all.”

Geoff Holtzman contributed to this article.

Read the original article on the Talk Radio News Service site.