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The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has recently announced they are suing the city of San Francisco for specifically targeting Black people for arrest and prosecution. The organization contends the city exclusively targeted its Black residents during undercover drug arrests, which was part of a pattern of racial profiling The Guardian reports . On the ACLU website regrading lawsuit states “Our Constitution promises all people, regardless of race, equal protection under the law. Yet the San Francisco Police Department has consistently singled out Black people for enforcement of criminal laws.”

It goes on to say, “This targeted enforcement is racist and illegal. So the national ACLU, the ACLU of Northern California, and the law firm Durie Tangri LLP have sued the city of San Francisco seeking damages on behalf of Black plaintiffs harmed by the SFPD’s race-based policing. The U.S. Supreme Court made clear 132 years ago that law enforcement’s targeting of people based on their race is patently unconstitutional.”

Law enforcement officials reportedly worked with U.S Drug Enforcement Administration and federal prosecutors federal authorities in 2013 and 2014 to arrest 37 Blacks for selling small amounts of drugs, the complaint states. Despite the fact that the population of San Francisco is only 6 % Black.

Novella Coleman, an ACLU staff attorney, “We’ve seen time and time again how racial bias has infected the San Francisco police department’s ability to administer equal enforcement of the law.”

Ezekiel Edwards, Director, ACLU Criminal Law Reform Project, wrote on the organization website, “These arrests show that San Francisco is continuing its long history of targeting non-white people for harsher treatment.”

Although a district judge assertion was “substantial evidence suggestive of racially selective enforcement,” the city of San Francisco continued to defend its actions. However, the ACLU was not aware of any involved officers facing disciplinary action the report states.

John Coté, the spokesman for the city attorney, said in an email that the police department, “did not engage in selective enforcement.” The email went on to state “The evidence will show that San Francisco police acted in accordance with federal directives.”

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