An anti-profiling bill is introduced by Delegate Englin and delegates Brink, Hope, James, McClellan, Morrissey, Plum, Scott, J.M., Sickles, Surovell, Toscano and Watts might be heard this Wednesday, February 2 in at the House Courts of Justice Sub-Committee in House Courts of Justice Virgina General Assembly:
#1 Criminal, which is scheduled to begin half an hour after adjournment of the full House.
Please help us to Call & Disseminate the following information through your networks.
#1 Criminal subcommittee in support of HB 2466.
This is the list of Members:
Click on the Delegate Links to get all of his or her contact information.
Delegate Ward L. Armstrong (D) - House District 10
Delegate Vivian E. Watts (D) - House District 39
Delegate Charniele L. Herring (D) - House District 46
Please contact the Delegates that is highlighted with RED first and ask them to vote YES on the Anti-Profiling bill HB 2466.
This bill is designed to protect all of us who drive, work and live in Virginia. HB 2466 will require police officers to collect certain demographic information at a traffic stop from now until July 1, 2015. As a result of enacting this bill, we will be able to objectively establish whether or not racial profiling is happening in Virginia.
- Racial profiling occurs when police target people for humiliating and often frightening interrogations, searches, and detentions based not on any evidence of criminal activity, but on individuals’ perceived race, ethnicity, nationality or religion.
- Racial profiling violates the U.S. Constitution by betraying the fundamental American promise of equal protection under the law, and infringing on the 4th Amendment guarantee that all people be free from unreasonable searches and seizures.
- According to the US Census bureau, there are 7.7 million people living in Virginia, of which 5.2 million (67%) are White alone, 1.5 million (19%) are African American, and 1.1 million (14%) are of other race or ethnic background. Historically racial profiling has happened to the African-Americans and Hispanics, but racial profiling also affects Native Americans, and increasingly after 9/11, Arabs, Muslims and South Asians.
- In a state where there are so many traffic laws, and there are many simple mistakes that a driver could make in inadvertently (such as failing to give proper signal), having a bill like HB 2466 becomes critical to balance the need for enforcement with the need to avoid bias-based policing.
- Presently when applying for a driver license in Virginia, individuals have to prove that they are legally present in this country. Undocumented people cannot currently obtain a Driver’s License in Virginia.
- While some people could argue that it will be expensive to require police to record demographic information, the cost is justified not only to prevent lawsuits that would be even more costly, but also to protect the values upon which our country was founded.
- The bill is designed to assist anybody in Virginia who is interested in establishing whether or not racial profiling and bias-based policing are taking place in Virginia.
- With this bill enacted through July 1, 2015, drivers in Virginia will rest assured that they are not being stopped by a law enforcement officer, using the way a person looks or sounds as the only identifier.
Please CALL your delegates and tell them to vote YES for the anti-profiling bill!
Thank you for your priceless support!
Best regards,
Wasim Entabi
The VA Muslim Civic Coalition is an independent, non-partisan Muslim group concerned with domestic issues which directly affect the VA Muslim American community’s li
We focus on issues of Civil Rights & Civil Liberties, Education, the Economy, Banking Reform, Environmental issues, Immigration Reform, and Health Care Reform. Our endorsements to candidates are based primarily on these issues and a candidate’s history of support for and positive interaction with the American Muslim community.
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