Racial Justice Campaign Disappointed with Judge’s Ruling on

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 9, 2006, 1:30 p.m.

Atlanta, GA – Members of the Racial Justice Campaign Against
“Operation Meth Merchant” (RJC) are deeply disappointed with last
week’s ruling by Judge Harold Murphy, denying the selective
enforcement motion filed by the American Civil Liberties Union
(ACLU). The ruling continues a troubling trend in the US criminal
justice system, which has historically made it extremely difficult to
win a claim of selective enforcement. The burden of proof for
selective prosecution is put upon the claimants, who must prove that
law enforcement actions had a racist effect and that there was a
racist motivation. Despite this extreme standard, the RJC believes
there is more than enough evidence to warrant further investigation.

“Very rarely have people of conscience won racial justice through the
courts,” said Dan Horowitz de Garcia, an organizer for the RJC. “The
system is designed to make sure we don’t get far going down that
road. The fact we got as far as we did is a heavy indictment on the
government’s case.”

Months before the motion was filed, the RJC was organizing to stop
the prosecutions of South Asian convenience store operators in this
case. Recently the RJC staff people returned from a trip to Geneva,
Switzerland where they met with members of the United Nation’s Human
Rights Committee (UNHRC). The UNHRC raised concerns about the
widespread use of racial profiling by law enforcement, and advised
that the US government take stronger efforts to prevent cases of
racial targeting like in “Operation Meth Merchant.”

The RJC plans on continuing its organizing efforts. Presently members
of the campaign are analyzing the impact Judge Murphy’s ruling will
have. “It is unfortunate that Judge Murphy’s decision has abruptly
denied justice through the court system for the people whose lives
have been ruined by ‘Operation Meth Merchant’. We are now in the
process of determining what our next steps should be,” said Deepali
Gokhale, campaign organizer of the RJC. “You can bet we’re going to
include organizing a unified community voice demanding governmental
accountability. Law enforcement and prosecutors cannot have free
reign to terrorize communities.”

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