Series Of Drug Stings In San Francisco Were Driven By Racism, ACLU Claims In Suit
The effort, dubbed "Operation Safe Schools," targeted "persistent, recidivist, and repeat offenders" for federal prosecution allowing for harsher sentences for drug sales within 1,000 feet of a school. "It became very apparent that they had singled out black people for very harsh and very severe prosecution under federal law," said Novella Coleman, a staff attorney with the ACLU Foundation of Northern California.
KQED:
Lawsuit: Systemic Racism Tainted S.F. Drug Stings That Targeted Only Black Suspects
Racism drove a series of undercover drug stings in San Francisco four years ago, resulting in indictments for more than three dozen black suspects, according to a federal lawsuit filed Thursday by the American Civil Liberties Union and its Northern California chapter. The sprawling complaint filed on behalf of six people arrested in the joint federal/SFPD operations in 2013 and 2014 cites official reports, academic research and news articles going back over a decade that document severe racial disparities in the city's arrest rates, as well as multiple high-profile scandals. (Emslie, 10/4)