RWG Membership Meeting Workshops

WORKSHOP I: Tuesday, May 11th at 11:00 am

Human Rights Documentation for Litigation and Advocacy

As activists/organizers/attorneys working on racial profiling issues, we frequently confront limited resources and capacity and the need to build partnerships across communities and across the issue-related silos in which we work.  Because any legal remedy for racial discrimination by law enforcement currently requires specific proof of intent to discriminate, it is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to challenge rights violations and/or broader law enforcement practices without comprehensive data that can measure the larger impact on communities of color.  Join this workshop to learn about human rights documentation and international human rights standards and mechanisms and how these human rights strategies can effectively support existing advocacy/litigation combating racial profiling.

Chandra Bhatnagar, American Civil Liberties Union, Human Rights Program

Messaging on Racial Profiling

Racial profiling messaging has typically depended on contexts of the profiling discussed.  Messaging shouldn't work in cross-purposes with efforts to build cross-constituency coalitions.  The workshop will examine effective communication in combating all forms of racial profiling.  Participants explore will how to deliver a unifying message while tailoring it for the intended audience.  Participants are encouraged to share their experiences.

Nadine Wahab, Rights Working Group

From the War on Drugs to the War on Terrorism: Racial Profiling Affects Everyone

Racial profiling is an illegal, ineffective and degrading practice that violates constitutional protections and human rights.  It occurs when law enforcement agents use race, religion, ethnicity, or national origin as a factor in deciding whom they should investigate, arrest or detain, except where these characteristics are part of a specific suspect description.  Racial profiling is a national problem that affects men and women of all age groups, from all socio-economic backgrounds, in rural, suburban and urban areas, and affects African Americans, Arab Americans, Asian Americans, Hispanic Americans, immigrants and native born Americans—in both public and private places.  This workshop looks at the historical development of racial profiling in the United States, with panelists discussing the disparate impact of federal policies on communities and offer points of commonality for building cross-constituency partnerships to combat racial profiling.

Jasmine Tyler, Drug Policy Alliance and Monami Maulik, Desis Rising Up and Moving

WORKSHOP II: Tuesday, May 11th at 3:30 pm

Addressing Police Abuses and Promoting Mechanisms for Civilian Oversight: New York City as a Case Study

As organizations, community groups and coalitions consider the impact of data and information through the passage of ERPA and state anti-racial profiling bills, the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) has embarked on a multi-faceted approach to addressing racial profiling and police abuse in New York and proposes a case study of the benefits and limitations of such data in challenging racial profiling. CCR is lead counsel in a class-action lawsuit challenging the New York City Police Department's (NYPD) unlawful stop-and-frisk practice. CCR alleges the plaintiffs in their case represent many thousands of New Yorkers who have been racially profiled and illegally stopped and frisked on their way to work, in front of their homes or just walking down the street without any cause, primarily because of their race. Furthermore, CCR is currently working with a wide range of community groups to advocate for city-wide police-reform efforts. Because of the city’s enormous influence, CCR believes that police reform in New York City has the potential to set a standard for police departments nationwide. Combining litigation, advocacy, community outreach and education, CCR believes these efforts will increase transparency and accountability in New York, while advocating for communities of color. The session would feature policing experts, litigators and advocates.

Jesus Gonzales, Make the Road New York; Sunita Patel, Center for Constitutional Rights; and Sam Walker, Professor Emeritus of Criminal Justice Unversity of Omaha

The Conflation of the Immigration and Criminal Justice System

Reforming America’s immigration and prison system provides a unique opportunity to build new partnerships in a shared goal of decreasing the racial disparity of communities of color being sentenced and detained.  The rise in the arrest and detention of immigrants through enforcement-only legislation and tactics has blurred the lines between fairness and justice.  Allies from the criminal justice community provide a unique opportunity for immigrant advocates to learn from their experiences in organizing prison abolitionists fighting against the increase of new prisons, the privatization of prisons, and incarceration of communities of color.  Presenters will provide a basic overview of the how the immigration and criminal justice systems intersect; identify areas for collaboration, and how to build new relationships between immigrant rights and criminal justice advocates.

Judy Greene, Justice Strategies; Nicole Porter, The Sentencing Project; Gabriel Sayeth, Drug Policy Alliance; and Paromita Shah, National Immigration Project

Litigating Racial Profiling Cases Involving Immigration Enforcement

One of the most pressing issues in civil rights advocacy today is a pattern of rampant racial profiling and Fourth Amendment violations by local law enforcement agencies arising from immigration enforcement activities. As local police and sheriff’s departments focus increasingly on enforcing immigration law, they have targeted "foreign-looking" individuals for traffic stops and other law enforcement actions. The goal of our workshop is to provide cutting-edge lessons from the litigation front, including: how to identify, investigate and develop cases for litigation; how to manage the litigation process, including pleading, discovery and motions; and how immigration law and policy plays into this area of law enforcement.

Glenn Katon, ACLU of Florida and Cecillia Wang, ACLU, Immigrants' Rights Project

Messaging on Racial Profiling (Repeat)

Racial profiling messaging has typically depended on contexts of the profiling discussed.  Messaging shouldn't work in cross-purposes with efforts to build cross-constituency coalitions.  The workshop will examine effective communication in combating all forms of racial profiling.  Participants explore will how to deliver a unifying message while tailoring it for the intended audience.  Participants are encouraged to share their experiences.

Nadine Wahab, Rights Working Group

AGENDA l SPEAKERS l CAUCUSES