Study Shows Minorities Pulled Over for Traffic Stops More Often – Chicago Criminal Laywer

July 14, 2011
traffic ticket

traffic ticket

A study by the Department of Transportation found that Black and Latino drivers were more likely to be ticketed and searched by police officers during traffic stops.

The study also found that Black and Latino drivers were stopped by police at a higher rate than the rest of the state population. What is most shocking about the findings is that drugs, guns, and other illegal items were more likely to be found in vehicles driven by white drivers: 25% compared to 19% and 13% for Blacks and Latinos respectively.

The American  Civil Liberties Union has filed a complaint and as a result, the Illinois State Police will review the new statistics and findings and has made promises to revise and re-train their officers to remedy the bias.

The study, conducted by the University of Illinois at Chicago’s Center for Law and Justice, found that white drivers received traffic tickets 55% of the time after a traffic stop while Hispanic and Black drivers received tickets 62% and 65% respectively.  The study also found that police ask to search vehicles of minority drivers twice as often as white drivers.

If you’ve been ticketed by the police for a traffic violation, charged with possession of drugs (marijuana, cannabis, cocaine, heroin, ecstasy), or charged with possession of a weapon, please contact The Law Office of Purav Bhatt at 773-791-9682 to discuss your matter.

Purav Bhatt is a criminal defense attorney practicing in Cook, Lake, DuPage and Will counties.

New Federal Law Attempts to Make Penalties for Crack and Cocaine More Consistent – Chicago Drug Lawyer

July 11, 2011

crack possession

cocaine possession

Soon, nearly 12,000 inmates in federal prisons across the country will be eligible to have their sentences reduced because of a new law attempting to make penalties for crack possession more consistent with penalties for possession of cocaine.

In the federal prison system, nearly 1 in 17 inmates is in custody as a result of a conviction for crack cocaine. Federal laws have been criticized since the 1980s for being racially discriminatory because of the unequal sentences imposed on those convicted of crack possession or trafficking compared with the sentences imposed on those convicted of cocaine-related offenses. The sentencing guidelines were criticized for being unequally hard on poor and black communities.
Shockingly, statistics show that 85 percent of the inmates expected to benefit from this decision are black. Statistics also show that the average reduction in federal sentences is expected to be approximately 3 years.

The original law was created in 1986 when crack cocaine was first introduced into the inner-city bringing with it  a new wave of crime and violence. As a result, lawmakers came down hard on crack-related offenders. Under that 1986 law, a person receiving a conviction for crack possession received a mandatory prison term equal to someone with 100 times the powdered cocaine amount. Essentially, 5 grams of crack cocaine got the same period of incarceration as 500 grams of powder cocaine.

Purav Bhatt is a criminal defense attorney practicing in Cook, DuPage, Lake and Will counties. He is located in Lincolnwood, Illinois near most Chicago and suburban courthouses including: Skokie, Maywood and Rolling Meadows.

If you or a loved on has been arrested for crack, cocaine or any other drug possession please contact Mr. Bhatt at 773-791-9682 to discuss your matter.