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Civil rights groups want consent searches banned
07/24/2008 17:15:09
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| Civil rights groups are asking Governor Blagojevich to bar state police from conducting searches during traffic stops. |
By The Associated Press
CHICAGO, IL - Civil rights groups asked Governor Blagojevich Thursday to bar state police from conducting consent searches during traffic stops. Such searches are conducted after officers ask drivers for permission to look in their vehicles.
In making the request to the governor, the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois and seven other groups cited four years of data that show minorities are searched more often than whites.
Their statistics say that in 2007, minorities underwent consent searches at a rate 2 1/2 times that of white drivers. But contraband, such as drugs or guns, was discovered almost twice as often among white drivers as among minorities.
Even so, consent searches made up less than one percent of all traffic stops in 2007. Blagojevich's office and the Illinois State Police say they haven't seen the coalition's request and don't have an immediate response.
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