ACLU Sues Philly Over 'Stop & Frisk'

The stats certainly don't look good:

"The lawsuit says pedestrian stops have more than doubled since 2005, to 253,333 in 2009. Of those pedestrians stopped, 72 percent were African-American and only 8 percent led to arrests.

'The majority of these arrests were for alleged criminal conduct that was entirely independent from the supposed reason for the stop and/or frisk in the first place,' the suit says.

The plaintiffs are seeking class status and rulings to prevent the police from conducting pedestrian stops based on race or national origin.

The suit also asks the court to order more police training, supervision and monitoring to ensure that 'stops, frisks, searches and detentions comport with constitutional requirements.'

'Mayor Nutter repeatedly promised that this policy would be carried out in a way that respected the Constitution,' said Mary Catherine Roper, a staff attorney with the ACLU of Pennsylvania. 'But instead of stopping people suspected of criminal activity, the police appear to be stopping people because of their race.'"