California Bill to Limit ‘Racially Biased’ Traffic Stops Passes Senate

Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officers place a handcuffed man into a car on Crenshaw Blvd in Los Angeles on Jan. 31, 2023. (Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images)

A California bill to prohibit most traffic stops for minor violations has narrowly passed the Senate.

“The data clearly shows that these pretextual stops are disproportionately used against communities of color,” bill author Sen. Steven Bradford (D-Gardena) told senators on May 30. “Having these unnecessary stops puts not only the community at greater safety [risk] but the law enforcement officers as well.”

Senate Bill 50 would restrict law enforcement from stopping drivers for low-level infractions, such as a broken taillight or expired registration, unless the officer has an additional and separate reason for pulling the driver over.

Such measures would cut down on law enforcement’s ability to use minor, non-safety-related traffic violations to conduct “racially biased” stops, Bradford said in a statement when he introduced the bill in February.

The bill passed by the State Senate on May 30 on a split-party vote of 22–11, with seven senators abstaining.

Arguments for and Against the Bill

“A broken taillight should not lead to one losing their life, as in Sandra Bland,” Bradford told senators. “An air freshener hanging over your rear-view mirror should not lead to losing your life, as in Duante Wright. These people are losing their lives unnecessarily just because of these minor infractions.”

Bland, 28, was pulled over by a Texas State trooper in 2015 for failing to signal while making a lane change. According to a video Bland recorded during the stop, she refused to put her phone down and get out of her car. She was eventually arrested before she died in jail three days later, apparently by suicide, which sparked outrage in the Black Lives Matter movement.

Duante Wright’s case became national news in 2021 when he was shot in the chest by a Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, police officer who said she mistook her gun for her taser. Wright was stopped for an expired registration and for having an air freshener hanging from his rearview mirror. During the stop, officers discovered he had a warrant for a misdemeanor weapons possession charge, and he was shot during a struggle as officers tried to arrest him when he tried to drive away, according to reports.

The officer was convicted of first- and second-degree manslaughter and served 16 months in prison. Wright’s family was awarded $3.2 million after suing the city over his death.

Police monitor a crime scene in a file photo. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

The bill is sponsored by Catalyst California, Prosecutors Alliance of California, Black Power Network; the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, and the California Faculty Association.

Cristine DeBerry, founder and executive director of the Prosecutors Alliance of California, said in February. “Pulling people over for petty violations causes fear, humiliation, and distrust in law enforcement and the criminal legal system more broadly. It can also lead to deadly consequences without providing any added safety benefit.”

Republicans who opposed Bradford’s legislation noted minor traffic stops can result in solving major crimes.

“When [officers] run the plates and they run the registration, a lot of time they will find bad people,” Republican Sen. Kelly Seyarto (R-Murrieta) said. “Like in Riverside, when they got the notorious serial killer William Suff. He was actually pulled over for a taillight violation and subsequently they figured out who he was and arrested him.”

Suff, also known as “the Riverside Prostitute Killer,” was stopped for a routine traffic violation and arrested in 1992 after officers found a knife in his vehicle that was used in several murders. He was later convicted of killing 12 women and attempting to kill another, and sentenced to die. Suff remains on Death Row in San Quentin State Prison.

The measure is heavily opposed by state law enforcement agencies and district attorneys.

The bill “jeopardizes public safety, undermines the rule of law, and reduces accountability for low-level infractions,” the California District Attorneys Association said in a statement of opposition.

Research has found that increased traffic enforcement is associated with decreases in traffic crashes and injuries, according to the association. Mailing a violation doesn’t address the urgency that is needed, the association claims.

Similar Bill Failed Last Year

Bradford resurrected the legislation after a similar bill—Senate Bill 1389—failed to pass the Senate last year.

His 2022 attempt was held up by the Senate’s Appropriations Committee.

This year’s bill includes fewer violations to prohibit officers from making traffic stops including registration expirations or faulty equipment, the number of license plates if at least one plate is clearly displayed, vehicle lighting equipment violations, bumper equipment issues, and bicycle equipment infractions.

The legislation would allow an officer to instead have a citation mailed to the vehicle owner, if they can identify them, or a warning letter for the owner to correct defects or remedy the ticket.

It would also allow cities, counties, or other local governments to adopt laws allowing non-law enforcement personnel to make traffic stops.

“Just one of these violations should not be enough to stop someone,” Bradford said during the Senate hearing, adding that less than 1 percent of traffic stops result in arrests.

During the hearing, Bradford committed to making two amendments when the bill is heard in the Assembly.

One amendment would clarify that if a person has more than one violation, they can be stopped.

The second amendment would require that if evidence of a second violation was found, it could not be suppressed in court. For instance, if officers found fentanyl in the vehicle, the drug charge could not be hidden in court, Bradford’s office told The Epoch Times.