Racial Profiling

Paper Summary:

This paper explores the issue of racial profiling and whether it has a malevolent or beneficial effect on society. While presenting and reviewing arguments on both sides of the issue, the author of the paper comes out clearly against racial profiling and concludes that, despite the fact that racial profiling gives law enforcement a good excuse to violate the rights of some segment of the population, such a violation is not legitimate, as it inherently punishes the suspiciously innocent along with the guilty.

From the Paper:

"When discussing law enforcement and crime prevention, one inevitably hits up against a philosophical impasse -- the rights and freedoms of the individual are inherently at odds with the purpose of the government which has its interest in controlling their actions. As law enforcement becomes increasingly tough-minded, it is increasingly true that the rights of the innocent must be sacrificed along with the rights of the guilty. So those who are more interested in the law than in freedom will inevitably be at odds with those who are more interested in freedom than in the law -- as there is no way to logically determine which is more valuable, so there is no way to logically determine which deserves the greater protection. The issue of racial profiling is one which falls into this area of debate quite naturally. It is generally inspired not by rabid racism but is considered to be a legitimate way to enforce the laws which, because of institutional racism, takes on a very racist nature -- yet it can be defended on the behalf of the lawful."

More papers on Racial Profiling:

• Essay # 89060 : "Racial Profiling in Toronto"
• Analytical Essay # 144476 : "Racial Profiling"
• Term Paper # 127868 : "Racial Profiling"
• Term Paper # 90578 : "Criminal Justice: Racial Profiling and Toronto"

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