politics
Supreme Court declines case on race in police encounters
The Supreme Court declined to review a D.C. Court of Appeals ruling that treated a man's race as relevant to whether a police encounter amounted to a seizure. Two justices dissented, arguing the decision requires officers to apply different standards based on race.
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The Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal in a case that asked whether a person's race can factor into whether a police encounter constitutes a seizure. The D.C. Court of Appeals had vacated firearm and theft convictions after concluding that officers seized the man before establishing reasonable suspicion.
The appeals court cited data indicating Black Americans are "especially distrustful of law enforcement" and therefore "less likely" to end a police encounter.
Dissenting view Justices who dissented said the lower court's approach forces officers to treat individuals differently based on race. They argued that precedent bars government actors from applying different rules according to a person's racial or ethnic group.
The dissent warned that officers would need to assess race quickly and then apply separate standards for Black persons, dark-skinned Latinos, and other minority groups.
Case background Officers approached the man and asked if he was carrying a weapon. 40-caliber pistol reported stolen from a federal agent's vehicle. The government maintained that the initial encounter did not amount to a seizure and that officers later recovered the firearm during a lawful interaction.
