ABSTRACT
This chapter is concerned with three issues: (1) how the U.S. legal system has dealt with allegations of racial profiling, (2) an examination of the issues that center on police stop data collection, and (3) the Wren v. United States Supreme Court decision. The chapter begins with an overview of proposed House Bill 118, which was introduced by Representative John Conyers of Michigan to the United States House of Representatives on January 7, 1997. The bill was titled the Traffic Stops Statistics Act, and it was the first known of its kind written to address racial profiling. The bill called for the United States Attorney General to carry out a nationwide study of traffic stops of motorists by U.S. police authorities. It passed with bipartisan support in the house and was referred to the Senate subcommittee where it stalled and never became law.
