ABSTRACT
Law enforcement, namely actions performed by police officers, prosecutors and judges in executing the criminal law, such as questioning, searching, arresting, prosecuting, convicting and sentencing people, is one context in which the question of the moral status of discrimination is salient. Several related features are especially noteworthy in the context of law enforcement. The doubt regarding the moral status of statistical discrimination that is rational is especially salient in the context of law enforcement. In order to determine whether statistical discrimination in law enforcement, such as racial profiling, is justified, it might be useful to consider first the considerations in its favor (that make it rational in the stipulated sense), before considering whether there are considerations against it. The content of distributive and retributive justice is of course controversial, as well as their interaction. Specifically, statistical discrimination might mitigate injustice with regard to those who would otherwise be the victims of crimes but exacerbate it regarding others.
