The U.S. Supreme Court’s War on Minorities: Disparate Impact in the age of Florence v. Board of Chosen Freeholders of the County of Burlington

• In Event: Controlling Police Misconduct

Abstract

In 2012 the Supreme Court of the United States decided Florence v. Board of Chosen Freeholders of the County of Burlington. The Court held that full strip searches, including cavity searches, are constitutionally permissible even for arrests for minor offenses irrespective of the circumstances surrounding the arrest. The Court has sanctioned the overreach of state power and extended to law enforcement and corrections officers the unfettered discretion to conduct graphically invasive suspicionless strip searches
The Court’s dereliction of duty is enough to draw the disdain of every concerned citizen. However, this phenomenal lapse in judicial oversight additionally subjects minorities, particularly blacks and Hispanics, to the blanket authority of law enforcement to harass and humiliate based on a perfunctory arrest predicated on the slightest of infractions.
Between 2004 and 2011 in NYC alone the NYPD conducted 4.4 million Terry stops of which blacks and Hispanics constituted a shocking 84%. If we naturally extend this practice of targeting minorities nationwide it becomes clear that the Court has given implicit approval to law enforcement to wage war on the civil rights of minority citizens. This paper will analyze the rationale and policy implications for people of color post Florence.

Authors

• Vincent Andre Keeton, LaGuardia College, CUNY

• Colleen Eren, CUNY LaGuardia