HARRISBURG, Pa. - More than a third of Philadelphia police stop-and-frisk instances are "not legally justified," according to a new analysis by the ACLU of Pennsylvania.
The organization has been monitoring the city's compliance with a 2011 court order. Senior staff attorney Mary Catherine Roper said that since that consent order, Philadelphia officers have filed a report each time they stop a pedestrian. She said fewer than half of those reports show the police acted on a reasonable suspicion. The research showed that 35 percent of the stops - tens of thousands a year - raise serious legal questions, she said.
"Based on what the police officers write down," she said, "in at least a third of these instances, the officers have not provided legal justification for treating someone like a criminal suspect."
Roper noted that half the city's residents are black or Hispanic, but the ACLU found eight out of 10 of those who were stopped - and nine out of 10 who were searched - were minorities.
City police officials explain the pattern of stops as part of their targeting high-crime areas with higher minority populations. But according to the ACLU's report, crime rates and police patrol routes don't explain the pattern of stops, which also don't correlate with the number of cases where police found weapons or drugs.
Roper said she thinks the police are stopping too many innocent people, for no good reason.
"This is not random. It is not tied to crime rates, even neighborhood by neighborhood," she said. "It's not tied to anything that you could see as a justification."
Roper said the city's reporting is much better, but she called unjustified stops a violation of the Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable search and seizure. She added that until a mechanism is in place to better "police the police," she worries the number of unjustified stops won't come down.
"While the city has made great strides in its record-keeping, it has not made strides in accountability for its officers," she said, "and actually reducing the number of unconstitutional stops, particularly of African-American men."
The ACLU filed its report with the court on Tuesday.
The full report is online at aclupa.org.
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Some Indigenous groups in Michigan want to draw parallels to their own historic struggles and those of Palestinians in Gaza and they are doing it through powerful artwork depicting dance.
One elaborate drawing shows a Native American and Palestinian woman dancing together.
The nonprofit Citizen's Resistance at Fermi Two said the group advocates for environmental causes and safety for all people, including tribal nations.
Jesse Deer in Water, the group's community organizer, said it was important to stand up for what they believe and, in his words, to "stop all forms of oppression."
"And I can identify with it, because it's happened to my people," Deer in Water explained. "The stuff that's happening currently on the West Bank is like what happened to my people in Georgia. We had no rights, and they just came in and, like, the settlers did whatever they want."
He added the group is concerned taxpayer dollars are being used for causes contributing to the struggles of the people of Gaza and those who live around the Fermi Two nuclear plant. Legislation in Congress to send more money to Israel is expected to pass in the U.S. Senate today.
Members of True Earth, a sister organization to Citizen's Resistance at Fermi Two helped select the artwork for the solidarity campaign, including the group's social media person, Nora Berry and graphic designer Maro Beauchamps.
Beauchamps called the pictures "a perfect depiction of beauty while in struggle," and said it is important to understand how the art tells a larger story.
"Two women that are dancing together, seeing the mirror in each other of the struggle, of the shared experiences and the shared traumas," Beauchamps outlined. "We often don't even see the women that are so critical and crucial to movements of resistance."
Shunahsii Rose, also with True Earth, sees another link between the nuclear controversy and the Middle East conflict.
"Both of them are a misuse of our dollars, huge misuse of our dollars," Rose contended. "Taking the money of hard-earned people and pouring it in terrible directions that only bring harm."
Disclosure: Citizens' Resistance at Fermi Two contributes to our fund for reporting on Environment, Environmental Justice, Native American Issues, and Nuclear Waste. If you would like to help support news in the public interest,
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A recent report details how great wealth that later made philanthropy possible around the country but most evidently in the District of Columbia, southern Maryland and northern Virginia -- commonly known as the DMV -- came at the expense of the social stability and economic success of Black residents.
Dwayne Proctor, board chair of the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy, said older foundations likely had the best opportunity to participate in practices that were unfair and unjust to people because of the times they were in, in the social context in which they began.
"I'm hopeful that many folks will look toward their local foundations and want to know more about how they began and if they've done harm and participated in the oppression of others, like it appears to have been the case in the DMV with the foundations that are studied," Proctor said.
Proctor stressed that if readers can connect the overlaps between the social determinants of health and the necessary healing of Black families today, real and transformative conversations about repair can begin.
Katherine Ponce, research manager for special projects for the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy, said the report tried to model what the state of California has done for its reparations task force, outlining many categories of how Black people have faced disparities in the region and how that starts.
"We talked about anti-Black media and rhetoric, housing discrimination and segregation, unemployment and hidden opportunity, and then health care, both mental and physical. We have eight case studies of foundations in the region, how their money was createdm" Ponce explained.
Ponce added the report should leave people not just knowing that big systems of oppression impact and harm people of color, but should cause people to start taking measurable actions and fix the disparities and make ties from the eight stories to their reality.
Disclosure: National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy contributes to our fund for reporting on Health Issues, Immigrant Issues, Reproductive Health, Women's Issues. If you would like to help support news in the public interest,
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A new report finds some Missouri laws and prospective laws are perceived as discriminatory regardless of their actual intent - and it outlines some big, negative economic implications for the state.
When events are scheduled in places with policies that are considered non-inclusive or discriminatory, that place is often assumed to support these initiatives.
Dr. M. Ray Perryman, founder and CEO of The Perryman Group, who conducted the independent analysis, said some potential visitors will choose to go elsewhere rather than support places they think are less open to diversity and equity. He said this avoidance risks millions for the Missouri economy.
"Travel and tourism losses in Missouri and Kansas could total hundreds of millions of dollars per year," he said, "with an associated loss in revenue to the states and local governments."
Measures now under consideration include Senate Bill 1314, which would limit state funding for diversity, equity and inclusion programs, and SB 980, which would prohibit state agencies from doing business with companies unless they'd agree not to be part of economic boycotts. With these types of policies, the Perryman research says, the state would risk losing nearly $2.6 billion in annual income and almost 24,000 jobs by 2030.
Perryman also pointed out that controversial public policies are discouraging to skilled workers seeking long-term employment and young workers as they consider where to begin their careers. He said it also plays a role for organizations in Missouri that are concerned about retaining employees.
"At a time when the U.S. economy is facing major challenges and uncertainty, the competition for quality corporate locations and expansions, as well as skilled workers, is particularly intense," he said, "and anti-DEI measures can be particularly damaging for future prosperity."
The report warns of similar negative financial consequences for the state of Kansas.
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