The End Racial and Religious Profiling Act was introduced in the U.S. Senate by Senator Ben Cardin (MD) (S. 411) and 27 of his Senate colleagues on February 16, 2017. Companion legislation, the End Racial Profiling Act, (H.R. 1498) was introduced in the U.S. House in on March 10, 2017, by Congressman John Conyers, Jr. (MI) and 57 of his colleagues. The End Racial and Religious Profiling Act in the Senate and the End Racial Profiling Act in the House comprehensively address the insidious practice of biased treatment by law enforcement on our nation’s streets, highways, walkways, and in our airports because of who you are, which God you worship, or who you are perceived to be.
We need the End Racial and Religious Profiling Act to stop this insidious practice and to help begin to restore the confidence of communities throughout the United States in federal, state and local law enforcement and thus restore the trust and integrity necessary to be effective. The NAACP has long advocated for enactment of the End Racial Profiling Act, highlighting the need for this legislation during the 2015 America’s Journey for Justice and calling for it at the grassroots level every time another person is stopped, hurt, or even killed because of his or her race, ethnicity, or other defining feature.
For more information on the problem and the legislation, please see the attached Action Alert.