In Massachusetts, a judge just ruled that African Americans had a lot to worry about if police is seeking to stop them - and that African Americans have reasons to flee when they see a police officer.
The case in Massachusetts involved a conviction for a burglary where the criminal defendant was stopped by the Boston police, and a firearm was found on him.
The trial court and the intermediate appellate court denied suppression of the firearm, but the higher appellate court reversed and vacated the convictions, because "the police lacked reasonable suspicion to make an investigatory stop".
The description of the suspect by the alleged victims was:
1) a black male wearing a red hoodie;
2) a black male wearing a black hoodie; and
3) a black male wearing "dark clothing".
A police officer spotted men who fit the "general description" and "yelled out":
The officer then radioed the description of black men who ran away when the officer "yelled out" to them, to other officers, who stopped the defendant. The defendant did not have a firearm on him, but a firearm was found nearby near a fence.
The appellate court ruled that the description that black males ran away when a police officer asked them to wait, was not enough reason for reasonable suspicion, stop, arrest, search and criminal charges.
Whether the defendant did or did not commit a burglary, does not matter - and I know that this issue will upset a lot of people, but that's how the law works.
The government cannot enforce the law, or teach respect to the law, by breaking the law.
If the only suspicion about a person is his skin color, gender, the color of his clothing and that he ran away from the police - that is simply not enough for arrests and searches.
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