A little
over 20 years ago when I was a high-profile criminal defense attorney the best
trial record in the state of Florida, maybe the country. We used to get calls all the time from
Orlando, from African-American men, who would claim they had been racially
profiled and stopped illegally in their cars.
These calls had a common thing, there are always two males
African-American and what appeared to be a lack of probable cause, it got to be
so common I developed a name for it, the Disney Stop.
I was referred a case from the neighborhood African-American street activist, who had been arrested
on the street corner for possession of a minor amount of drugs. It was obvious
after reading the case file and talking to him, that there would be absolutely
no probable cause for any arrest whatsoever. This was a fairly easy case to
resolve, I filed a motion to suppress and set a hearing. Interestingly enough, about seven Orlando
police officers showed up for the hearing.
The judge ruled in our favor and then all hell broke loose. The
arresting officer went ballistic and he was warned by the judge to calm down. He
failed to calm down, the judge warned him again that if he didn't he would be
held in contempt of court. Finally the
judge ordered him to a holding cell in the back. While the bailiffs took him back, I literally
believe there was going to be a shootout in the court room from the police.
This wasn't a major case, it was really a simple legal issue. One of the bailiffs came over to me and said
if I were you I would get out of here. He
did not have to tell me twice I couldn't get out of Orlando fast enough that
day.
Now I think it's important to add some side note here. I have my
own opinion about racial profiling this is going to be unpopular to say but I
think the cop in Ferguson, Missouri was justified and probably shot out of fear
because of the size of Michael Brown. I also think that the killing by the
police officer in Minnesota was absolutely unjustified and that officer should
face at the minimum manslaughter charges. The killing in Baton Rouge bothers me
tremendously, I don't think there was any justification there. And the killing
of the guy in New York last year, who was selling cigarettes was in my
opinion totally unjustified. And the traffic stop in Texas where the woman
ended up killing herself in jail, that cop needs a jailing in my opinion.
On the other hand the shooting of the great police officers in
Dallas makes me cry, I know a lot of great people in law-enforcement and they
are just doing a very dangerous job.
So there you have it from a former criminal defense attorney. Racial
profiling by police officers is an absolute reality but there are so many
police officers, that there are bound to be some bad apples.
An interesting side note the judge in Orlando who I thought was
even tempered, applied the law and did a great job, was Judge Belvin Perry who
later presided over the Casey Anthony case and is now in private practice.
