Racial profiling on an “industrial scale”

[marmar]

from Salon.com:



Racial profiling on an “industrial scale”
The ACLU uncovers an FBI program that pairs Census data with "crude stereotypes" to map ethnic communities

By Justin Elliott


New documents obtained by the ACLU show that the FBI has for years been using Census data to “map” ethnic and religious groups suspected of being likely to commit certain types of crimes.

Much is still not known about the apparent large-scale effort in racial profiling, partly because the documents the ACLU obtained through public records requests are heavily redacted.

The FBI maintains that the mapping program is designed to “better understand the communities that are potential victims of the threats,” but the ACLU says it is plainly unconstitutional.

To learn more about the FBI program, its implications for civil liberties and the questions that remain unanswered, I spoke to Michael German, policy counsel at the ACLU’s Washington office and a former FBI agent. ..........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.salon.com/2011/10/22/racial_profiling_on_an_industrial_scale/

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