Massachusetts Supreme Court rules that black men have legitimate reason to run from police
This week alone at least three new names were added to the already too long list of black boys and men killed by law enforcement. Tyree King, a 13-year-old boy from Columbus, Ohio; Terrence Crutcher in Tulsa, Oklahoma; and Keith Lamont Scott in Charlotte, North Carolina, were all shot to death by police.
For black men in America, a seemingly run-of-the-mill police stop can turn deadly in a single moment. Now, even the highest court in Massachusetts is acknowledging that black men may reasonably avoid police interaction, even when they've done nothing wrong.
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) ruled this week that black men may have a legitimate justification in running from police. The controversial ruling, a noteworthy acknowledgement that black men are treated differently by law enforcement, was part of the analysis in the court's decision to throw out defendant Jimmy Warren's gun conviction. From WBUR:
Warren was arrested on Dec. 18, 2011, by police who were investigating a break-in in Roxbury. Police had been given a description of the suspects as three black men — one wearing a “red hoodie,” one wearing a “black hoodie” and the other wearing “dark clothing.” An officer later spotted Warren and another man (both wearing dark clothing) walking near a park. When the officer approached the men, they ran. Warren was later arrested and searched. No contraband was found on him, but police recovered an unlicensed .22 caliber firearm in a nearby yard. Warren was charged with unlawful possession of a firearm[.]