Blue power: Yale prestige helps grads in lawsuit

Two young men and two young women, all minorities, are parked in their car near Manhattan's Union Square. A yellow taxi screeches to a halt in front of them; a man jumps out with a gun drawn. Terrified, the driver, a black man, throws the car into reverse and tries to escape. He is blocked from the back by another car. His window is smashed; he is dragged from the car, beaten, and handcuffed. A search through the car reveals an acceptance letter from Harvard Law School, addressed to one of the passengers. The attackers, who happened to be police officers in plainclothes, ease up. They become friendlier. The group is saved.

MELANIE EINZIG/NEWSMAKERS Protestors rally on Wed., Mar. 22 against the commando tactics of the New York Police Department Street Crime Unit.

This is the story that four people, all graduates from Ivy League universities, told reporters about their encounter with plainclothes police from the Street Crime Unit of the New York Police Department (NYPD) on the night of Mon., Jan. 10. The four—Jason Rowley, a Brown graduate, Sheldon Gilbert, JE '97, Lauren Sudeall, SM '99, and Marie-Claire Lim, BK '98—filed a civil rights lawsuit earlier this month, accusing the NYPD of false arrest and excessive use of force. Their claim—that the officers used aggressive tactics because the two men in the car were black—comes on the heels of well-publicized cases of allegedly racially motivated police misconduct, such as the fatal shooting of Amadou Diallo last year. According to The New York Times, the plaintiffs hope that their background as Ivy League alumni working for the Internet start-up MagicBeanStalk.com will attract attention and advance the fight against police abuses.

The police department rejects the claim that the officers reacted violently because of the men's race. The department explained that the 1994 Toyota Camry was stopped because it had run a red light and was listed as a stolen vehicle. Rowley's car had been stolen in November 1999, but was recovered and returned to him. Police could not explain why the records had not been updated. Police spokesperson Sgt. Andrew McInnis also told reporters that the officers had used the minimum physical force needed in the situation.

The lawsuit highlights a question that has persistently confronted Yale students: what can the Yale name do? What kind of power does this four-letter word possess? Certainly it does nothing to guard against superficial suspicions. This incident "helps bring home the fact that, on the basis of certain appearances, this can happen to anyone," political science Professor Rogers Smith said. Smith, who has been following the case, added, "It certainly fits into the pattern of aggressive searches of young black men by plainclothes officers."

But the officers' reaction upon discovering the acceptance letter seems to demonstrate that a prestigious background truly is influential. In filing suit, the four have harnessed the strength of the Yale name to expose injustice. And support for the lawsuit is growing among Yale students. "I think this is perfect— the consummate way to use the prestige of the University," Sharmeen Premjee, BK '02, an active member of the Afro-American Cultural Center, said. She remarked on the difficulty of combating an established institution such as the police force. "The police officers, they have the law on their side," Premjee declared. "You need a something strong enough to confront it."

Desiree Gordon, PC '02, a coordinator for the Black Student Alliance at Yale and the Black Pride Union, agreed that the Ivy League name could be influential in this case. She cited the recent slaying of Patrick Dorismond by NYPD officers as a comparison. "In the Dorismond case, Mayor [Rudolph] Giuliani released the police records of the dead man as if that was some kind of justification for his death," Gordon said. She explained that it would be difficult to tarnish the records of the graduates. "If this case reaches the limelight, it would be interesting to see how Giuliani reacts," Gordon said.

The four graduates, however, also run the risk of being alienated from their cause. In light of the acquittals of the officers in the Diallo case, a victory in this case could intensify the frustrations of those whose efforts have failed. If this group prevails where others have not, their suit may become another unhappy reminder of the stark divide between socio-economic classes.

But there is faith that the gap can be bridged if this case is approached in the right way. "It all depends on how the people involved conduct themselves," Gordon said. In the end, the NYPD's seeming reliance on external factors may come back to haunt them. Premjee expressed hope that the lawsuit would thus be able to use the system to change the system. "This is a tradition in civil rights," she declared. "People who have gained a voice can lend it to those who have remained voiceless."

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