CONSTITUTION: LEGISLATION WILL HELP PREVENT PROFILING

In a troubling example of racial profiling, African-American women returning
from abroad were nearly twice as likely as white men or women to be
strip-searched by U.S. Customs Service inspectors. Even worse, an analysis
of the results of those searches indicates that there is little
justification for the practice of singling out black women.

Despite enduring far more strip-searches and X-rays at our nation's
airports, the percentage of black women found with illegal drugs or
contraband wasn't substantially different than for the population as a
whole, according to a report released Monday by the General Accounting
Office.

The GAO also found that black women were much more likely than white women
to be forced to undergo X-rays to see if they were smuggling contraband
inside their bodies. In fact, when white women were forced to undergo
X-rays, they were twice as likely as black women to be carrying contraband.

U.S. Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) called for the congressional probe after
customs officials at Atlanta's Hartsfield International Airport said they
were urged to "go after blacks." In the wake of such complaints and a
class-action lawsuit by 100 black women in Chicago, Customs Commissioner
Raymond W. Kelly had already taken steps to halt abuses.

Still, Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) is right to call for legislation to
ensure that Kelly's commitment against profiling becomes permanent. Durbin's
bill would prohibit racial profiling of passengers, require annual
statistics on the race and sex of those searched and mandate that officials
document why someone is targeted.

The Customs Service operates under broad powers to detain and search
travelers, but that doesn't mean travelers surrender their civil rights
between the airport tarmac and baggage claim.

Law enforcement officers have a responsibility to act on suspicious
behavior, but that behavior has to amount to something more than being black
and female.