by TChris

Driving while black is a too-common reason for traffic stops. In Eastpointe, Michigan, bicycling while black was viewed as sufficient reason to stop bicyclists, according to a lawsuit filed "on behalf of black youths from Detroit who said police violated their constitutional rights by unfairly stopping and searching them as they rode their bikes."

The City maintains its officers did nothing wrong, but it agreed to pay $160,000 to settle the claims of 21 kids who were stopped by Eastpointe police.

The settlement comes less than a year after the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned U.S. District Judge John O'Meara's 2003 dismissal of the case. The appellate court expressed concerns about potential Fourth Amendment violations and said there was enough evidence of racial discrimination and illegal searches by the police department to take the case to a jury trial.