Georgia v. Kwik-E-Mart

To all you Con Law and Crim fans out there (and you KNOW who you are...)

Hey, remember Yick Wo?

[For the unitiated (read: smart enough NOT to go to law school): Yick Wo was a case in California, wherein a facially neutral law regulating the laundry business was applied only against Chinese Americans and not members of other ethnic groups (whites, mostly). The law basically said that the owners of any wooden building housing a laundry facility must obtain a permit from a local agency before they could continue to launder. The agency more or less denied permits to EVERY Chinese American, despite the fact that the Fire Marshall had approved their buildings as safe for the purposes of their business, but then allowed every non-Chinese person, save one, to obtain a permit, no questions asked.]

So, Yick Wo was basically a squeeze out move, to help break Chinese dominance of the impressive and highly desirable mid-20th century laundry business.

Here's another case of interestingly applied law.

Now, we all know meth has been a problematic drug for many white populations (as Mr. Hughley put it, "I call it crack for crackers"). Accordingly, state reactions to meth have been far-reaching and pervasive law promulgations, including attempts at regulating the sale of "necessarily dangerous" items such as matches, charcoal, cold-medicine, and aluminum foil (all useful items for creating the drug; It is intersting to note that no one ever tried to crack down on the sale of baking soda).
In an attempt to "bust" various convenience stores in the state for selling items to makers of meth, law enforcement agents in Georgia walked into local stores and purchased the goods. The hitch? As the cashiers were ringing them up, the agents would casually say, "I need this stuff to finish up a cook." Sell the stuff after a comment like that, and you're a felon.

What the fuck?

Apparently they performed this sting operation on a number of local stores, but nearly ALL of the people they actually charged and arrested were Indian (South Asian Indian, jackass). Surpised? Why should you be?

"Of 629 convenience stores in the six-county area in the sting, 80 percent are owned or operated by whites, according to the A.C.L.U.'s court filing, but fewer than 1 percent of the stores in the sting are white-owned or operated. The filing said the clerk at the only white-operated store was known widely as a methamphetamine addict whose husband was in prison for making the drug."

They exploited a language barrier to arrest individuals who spoke limited English and then even tailored their stings to only hit up Indian owned stores. Granted, maybe Indian-owned stores sell to meth makers disproportionatley, but still, the numbers are conspicuous.

Apparently, though, not conspicuous enough for Georgia State courts. God Bless the ACLU (Ha!): I imagine they will press this one as far as they can, and it will be interesting to see how it turns out.