According to a report by Luca Powell with Richmond Times-Dispatch, a federal judge said, “Black drivers have a problem in Richmond.”
The judge clarified:
“There is disgraceful disparity in enforcement of traffic laws, with Black drivers getting the short end of the stick.”
The federal judge based what he said after finding out that Richmond police stop Black drivers at a significantly higher rate than white drivers.
Virginia passed legislation in 2020 aimed at reducing instances of racial profiling and disparities in traffic stops, but that situation seems to persist throughout the state and in Richmond.
U.S. District Court Judge John A. Gibney Jr. made the ruling earlier this week in a motion to dismiss the case against Keith Rodney Moore, a Black man who was pulled over in Highland Park in December 2020. Moore had a prior felony conviction, fled the scene, was caught, and found to illegally have a gun in his car, for which he was arrested.
Moore’s lawyer argued he shouldn’t have been pulled over to begin with and was only stopped because he is Black.