The Right to Equal Protection and Fourth Amendment Rights Are Distinct Rights; Courts Must Protect Both

On behalf of MACDL, Attorney Wood and a team of attorneys from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr recently filed an amicus brief urging the Supreme Judicial Court to fully enforce people’s rights not to be targeted for stops based on their race, regardless of whether the police have reasonable suspicion. The Commonwealth has repeatedly argued that if the police have reasonable suspicion, then it does not matter whether someone has been targeted because of their race. This argument is pernicious, essentially reading the equal protection clause out of the constitution. The SJC must reject such arguments.