Washington justices: Race a factor in analyzing police stops

By GENE JOHNSON
Associated Press

SEATTLE (AP) — The Washington Supreme Court says a person’s race and ethnicity must be taken into account when deciding whether they were free to leave an encounter with police. The unanimous ruling Thursday was in the case of a man identified in court records as Asian Pacific Islander. The court says the fact that the man gave false information to police should not have been considered at his trial because he was unlawfully detained at the time. The court used the case to emphasize that data shows police have long disproportionately arrested and used force against Black people and other minority groups, and that they might have different perspectives regarding whether they are free to leave an encounter with officers.