ADADIn the last decade, none of the 179 defendants arrested in DEA reverse-sting cases in the Southern District of New York were white, according to an accounting by the Federal Defenders of New York, a nonprofit legal defense group that represents Lopez. Lopez and his co-defendants were armed and dangerous and conspired to commit a serious crime, authorities say. It has proved frustrating for law enforcement officials, who argue they are carrying out their mandate to take dangerous people off the streets. In 2014, the Federal Criminal Justice Clinic at the University of Chicago Law School, detecting racial disparity, set out to challenge how law enforcement employed reverse stings. (He was released on a $100,000 bond and restricted to home confinement, except to work a pair of overnight jobs.)

Source: Washington Post December 15, 2019 01:07 UTC