Court Cases

Racial profiling by law enforcement has long plagued communities of color. The 2003 settlement in our racial profiling case established a moratorium on California Highway Patrol consent searches.

The ACLU Foundation of Northern California filed a discrimination lawsuit against Northwest Airlines for refusing to allow Arshad Chowdhury, a 26-year-old Bangladeshi-American, to board a Northwest flight even though he posed no security threat. The complaint was filed on the same day and in collaboration with four other similar complaints filed across the country by other ACLU affiliates against major airlines. All of the lawsuits concern airlines' widely-reported practice since September 11 of discriminating against passengers who are, or are perceived to be, of Middle Eastern origin.