D.C. Must Defend Claims Stop and Frisk Policy is Racially Biased

The District of Columbia failed to shake off a proposed civil rights class action alleging its Metropolitan Police Department policy of stopping and searching for guns is racially biased.

The allegations that the department’s gun recovery unit unlawfully targets Black males without reasonable suspicion or probable cause are sufficient to survive dismissal for failure to state a claim, Judge Tanya S. Chutkan of the US District Court for the District of Columbia ruled Wednesday.

The nine members of the unit named in the complaint aren’t entitled to qualified immunity because the allegations, if true, are clearly illegal, Chutkan said.

“It ...