ACLU to Appeal Dismissal of "Racial Profiling" Lawsuit Against State Police
The Rhode Island ACLU today said it would appeal a ruling issued yesterday in a federal lawsuit filed last year against the R.I. State Police, challenging the legality of the detention and transporting to immigration officials of fourteen people, all Guatemalans, who were stopped in a van on I-95 after the driver changed lanes without using a turn signal. The lawsuit, filed by RI ACLU volunteer attorney V. Edward Formisano on behalf of eleven of the individuals, argued that the actions by the state police violated the state’s Racial Profiling Prevention Act, as well as the driver and passengers’ constitutional rights to be free from discrimination and from unreasonable searches and seizures. However, U.S. District Judge Mary Lisi has ruled that the officers’ conduct was lawful.