Racial Profiling Case

According to WBALTV.com, the Maryland Court of Special Appeals heard arguments recently in a case that could have a profound impact on minority drivers and everyone’s ability to obtain public records.  See, http://www.wbaltv.com/news/19432799/detail.html , “Court Hears Racial Profiling Case,” 5/11/09.  According to the article, the NAACP and the American Civil Liberties Union claim that Maryland State Police are improperly withholding documents that will reveal whether the agency meaningfully investigated complaints of racial profiling.  As reported in the article, two years ago, both groups requested the files for 100 racial profiling complaints that police had investigated since 2003 and determined were unsubstantiated.  State Police have reportedly argued that the records are confidential personnel records, but a lower court ordered state police to turn over redacted records that do not identify individual troopers, so the state police appealed that decision.  A decision in the appeal case may be months away.