Turning up the heat in the battle over alleged racial profiling of motorists, the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California filed suit in federal court Thursday against the California Highway Patrol and the Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement on behalf of a Latino attorney who was stopped by the CHP.
San Jose attorney Curtis Rodriguez and a passenger were pulled over in the Pacheco Pass area of Highway 152 south of San Jose in June, 1998, soon after Rodriguez says he observed five other instances of police pulling over Latino drivers within a 10-mile stretch. His passenger was even photographing the police stops for documentation purposes just before Rodriguez himself was pulled over.
