Two New SJC Opinions Refine Long Decision on Suppressing Evidence from Racially-Motivated Stops
Considerable data shows that police stop Black people in the U.S. much more frequently than white people. At least some of these stops are motivated by racial profiling, implicit or explicit, in violation of the constitutional guarantee of equal protection. But how, in practice, can a Black defendant establish that the stop in his or her case was racially motivated—and use this fact to defeat a criminal charge?