Maryland officials said yesterday they're prepared to settle the state's historic racial profiling lawsuit April 2. But lawyers representing minority motorists who claim state troopers stopped them solely on the basis of their race said they weren't quite ready to sign off on the deal.
Although Comptroller William Donald Schaefer said he has reservations about the proposed agreement, Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. and Treasurer Nancy K. Kopp support a modified version of the consent decree proposed this year to settle the class-action lawsuit.
American Civil Liberties Union attorneys, who are representing the motorists, still must accept the eight pages of clarifications proposed by Ehrlich's lawyers.
Last night, they were reviewing those changes.
"These pages propose some technical changes and what they call `clarifications,'" said ACLU attorney William J. Mertens. "We're working hard to respond quickly and hope we can reach an agreement soon."
State police Superintendent Edward T. Norris said the proposed settlement would be on the agenda when the Board of Public Works - made up of Ehrlich, Kopp and Schaefer - meets April 2.
Norris and Ehrlich had some concerns about the deal that was negotiated under former Gov. Parris N. Glendening.
But at the superintendent's swearing-in ceremony yesterday, Norris said, "Most of what's being proposed I did when I was in Baltimore."
The proposed consent decree could change the nature of traffic stops by state troopers, who would be required to have written permission from motorists to search vehicles and to hand out pamphlets that would explain how motorists can file complaints.
However, the agreement allows for cases when it's not feasible for troopers to distribute the pamphlets or when it's unsafe to do so, which was one of troopers' objections to the consent decree.
And many troopers already obtain written consent to search vehicles they stop.
If approved, the consent decree would require state police to establish a police-citizen advisory panel to monitor reports of racial profiling and to review data about the race of motorists stopped.
The proposed $325,000 settlement would also cover legal expenses of minority motorists who joined the legal battle begun in 1992 by Washington defense attorney Robert L. Wilkins after he was stopped by a state trooper in Cumberland and refused to consent to a police search.
