Dear Jon:

Last weekend me and my boyfriend were driving up to a party in an affluent northern suburb when we pulled over by a police officer. The officer would not tell me what I had done wrong and just ordered me out of the car. He had me put my hands on the front of the car and he searched me and removed my wallet and looked through it. Then they asked my boyfriend to step out of the car and they searched him. While they were searching my boyfriend, another squad car pulled up and these new cops started to search the car. While all of this was going on the cop who had searched me just kept asking me what I was doing in town and if I had anything in the car I wasn't supposed to. After a while they just let us go. I think that they pulled us over because we are Hispanic. Isn't this racial profiling?

--Mario

Dear Mario:

I'm afraid that you seem to be describing an all too familiar phenomenon which has become known as "DWB" or "Driving While Black or Brown." Although a great deal of attention has been given of late to traffic stops based on skin color or ethnicity, the situation remains problematic for minorities. It is a clear violation of your civil rights and must not be tolerated.

According to UPI, a traffic officer in Highland Park has testified that he was instructed by a supervisor to stop minority drivers passing through town, especially "Mexicans in big hats." Police in Mount Prospect began collecting data in 2000 after they were accused of profiling Hispanics. In fact the village of Mount Prospect agreed to pay some 3,000 Hispanics up to $225 each as a result of recent class-action laws suits.

State Senator Barak Obama recently sponsored legislation requiring the Illinois Department of Transportation to work with police departments throughout the state to collect data on racial profiling.

The name, addresses, sex and race of every driver pulled over and the reason why they were stopped will be sent to IDOT for the next four years. Data will be analyzed by Northwestern University researchers to determine if African-Americans, Hispanics, Muslims in the wake of the September 11, 2001 terror attacks, or any other minorities are being unfairly stopped based on their race, ethnicity or appearance.

The Illinois Department of Transportation will report the findings every July 1 beginning in 2005 through 2008. We will be watching.

What I find particularly interesting is the decrease in the number of traffic citations written by certain Illinois police departments after being required to report racial profiling information in a separate Department of Justice study.

Racial profiling is nothing more than discrimination and is a clear violation of your civil rights. You every right to be angry and you are entitled to just compensation for your damages.oh, and how was the party?

--Jon

--Jon F. Erickson is a principle in the law firm of Erickson & Oppenheimer and specializes in issues relating to the GLBT community. If you have a question for Jon, you can reach him at jonferik@aol.com or call his offices at 773-510-3648 or 773-875-4646.

***This column is not legal advice but is intended solely as entertainment.***