Slate News What Next | How the Supreme Court Legalized Racial Profiling
Sep 11, 2025
Mark Joseph Stern, a senior writer covering courts and the law for Slate and co-host of Amicus, discusses a recent Supreme Court decision that has alarming implications for racial profiling. He highlights how this ruling opens the door to federal agents questioning citizenship based on appearance, particularly affecting Latino communities. The conversation dives into Justice Sotomayor's powerful dissent and the use of the 'shadow docket', underscoring the growing disconnect between judicial decisions and everyday realities faced by marginalized groups.
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Court Green-Lights Profiling
- The Supreme Court's order effectively permits ICE to demand proof of citizenship based on appearance and language.
- This shifts precedent by allowing race and language to justify stops that previously required reasonable suspicion.
Operation At Large Raids In LA
- Operation At Large sent ICE into Los Angeles to raid places where Latinos gather like churches and car washes.
- Plaintiffs included U.S. citizens who were detained and brutalized while simply being Latino in public.
Shadow Docket Creates Legal Darkness
- The Supreme Court issued an unsigned shadow-docket order with only partial explanations.
- That secrecy leaves lower courts and the public unsure which legal rationale controls.
