Description
A particularly timely file in today's charged relationship between law enforcement and persons of color, Stucky v. Conlee, Parsell, and Nita City is a civil rights action for damages arising out of alleged racial profiling giving rise to a traffic stop. Plaintiff Clayton Stucky is an African-American who works as a trooper with the Nita State Police. While off duty and driving his personal vehicle, Stucky was pulled over by two City of Nita police officers, who then sought consent to search the car. Officers Conlee and Parsell, both Caucasian, allege that Stucky was driving over fifty miles per hour on a city street zoned for twenty-five miles per hour. Conlee and Parsell issued Stucky a citation for driving at an unsafe speed. Following a hearing, the district justice found Stucky not guilty of the charged traffic offense. Stucky asserts that he was driving the speed limit and alleges that Conlee and Parsell pulled him over for "driving while black." He sued Conlee and Parsell for damages caused by their violation of Stucky's right to be free from an unreasonable seizure and his right to the equal protection of the laws. Stucky also named Nita City as a defendant, alleging that Nita City Police Chief Kurt Lieber's training and supervision of Conlee and Parsell was deliberately indifferent with respect to the risk of racial profiling and that Lieber's deliberate indifference was a cause of Conlee and Parsell's stopping Stucky without probable cause and based upon Stucky's race. There are three witnesses for each side. Additionally, a racial profiling expert and a medical expert are available for both the plaintiff and defendants. The updated version includes electronic exhibits such as text messages and the Facebook page of one of the witnesses. Digital versions of the exhibits are available online.
