Today, in an open letter to President-Elect Donald Trump, the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Economic Justice made clear that it will aggressively protect the civil rights of minority and immigrant communities in Massachusetts.
The Lawyers’ Committee’s letter expressly states that efforts to impose racial profiling and discriminatory policies in the law enforcement and immigration contexts in Massachusetts will be met with legal challenges.
Time and time again, courts have clarified that racial profiling and discriminatory practices have no place in Massachusetts — most recently with the Supreme Judicial Court’s decision in Commonwealth v. Warren, which recognized that people of color suffer the “recurring indignity” of being racially profiled.
As the letter clarifies, the Lawyers’ Committee stands ready to protect vulnerable individuals and marginalized communities in Massachusetts.
The full letter appears here:
November 21, 2016
President-Elect Donald Trump
Trump Tower
725 5th Avenue
New York, NY 10022
Re: Guiding Principles for Legal Priorities
Dear President-Elect Trump:
On behalf of the minority and low-income communities that we represent, the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Economic Justice respectfully writes to provide guiding principles as you move from the campaign trail to the White House.
Founded in 1968, the Lawyers’ Committee was the first of eight affiliates of the Washington-based Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, a national organization formed at the request of President John F. Kennedy to move the civil rights movement from the streets to the courtroom. Through impact litigation, policy advocacy, and community education we safeguard the civil, social, and economic rights of our constituencies.
Racial profiling makes people of color feel less comfortable interacting with police and, thus, less likely to seek police protection – this is particularly harmful for victims of domestic violence. People of color are less likely to come forward as witnesses to help law enforcement investigate and resolve crimes when they do not trust law enforcement to treat them equally. This makes all of us – regardless of our race or immigration status – less safe. Reliance on racial profiling will alienate communities of color, undermine law enforcement and contravene the core police objectives of controlling crime and promoting public safety. See Investigation of the Ferguson Police Department, U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division, 62 (2015). In an era of growing tension between police departments and communities of color, we urge you to promote racial justice in all law enforcement policies. If implemented in Massachusetts, racial profiling policies will be legally challenged by the Lawyers’ Committee.
As you move from the campaign trail to the White House, the Lawyers’ Committee urges you to keep these guiding principles in mind.
Respectfully submitted,
Ivan Espinoza-Madrigal, Esq.
Executive Director