WaPo: (Justice Dept.) Official in Racial Profiling Study Demoted

[Penndems]

Justice Department Denies Political Pressure; Lawmaker Demands Investigation

By Dan Eggen
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, August 25, 2005; Page A07

The ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee called for a congressional investigation yesterday into allegations that a Justice Department official is being demoted after attempting to publicize findings that police treated Hispanic and black drivers more aggressively than whites during traffic stops.

Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) said he was preparing a request for an "independent review" by the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, which will be asked to examine the personnel issues and the formulation of the study itself.

<snip>

The survey of 80,000 people, which was eventually issued in April without a news release, found that minority drivers were three times as likely to have their vehicles searched during traffic stops as white drivers.

Greenfeld fought the order and was eventually called to the White House and urged to resign six months before he was eligible for full pension benefits, but Greenfeld invoked personnel rules to force an agreement to place him in a different job, the Times said. Greenfeld did not return a telephone message left yesterday.

Link:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/24/AR2005082401893.html






(on edit: typo)