Mamaroneck is a suburb of New York City, near Larchmont and New Rochelle, in affluent Westchester County. Last week, in a 72 page opinion, a federal judge ruled the village discriminated against Latino day laborers.

The ruling cited evidence that following the Mamaroneck Village Board’s resolution earlier this year to close a day labor hiring site in Columbus Park, police applied a “virtual zero tolerance policy” to contractors seeking to hire Latino day laborers near the park but issued no tickets to parents dropping off children at the nearby day care center and schools, even if they blocked traffic. Police were observed ticketing Latino drivers for not wearing seatbelts, but merely gesturing at white drivers to buckle up.

The New York Times has a terrific editorial today on the case.

You cannot abuse people through selective enforcement of the law. You cannot single people out for special punishment without cause. You cannot instruct the police to harass people for being Latino and poor. Cities and towns across the country have overlooked these basics in their eagerness to punish those they presume to have violated federal immigration laws. But thankfully for all of us, the Constitution still has the final say.

The full text of the ruling is here (pdf).