Is There a Conservative Case Against Racial Profiling?
Abstract. This article analyzes contentions that a politically conservative case can be made against racial profiling. At least in most Western conceptions of political philosophy, a conservative orientation implies limited governmental intrusion into the public and private space of a polis; internalized and externalized respect for formally constituted authority; a shared intrapsychic and behavioral embracing of consensual social and cultural values–especially those bearing on morals and ethics; social and political consequences for individuals based on merit; and acceptance of the use of force to deter, counter, and punish those who might or do violate the above. Given that the use of force–including threat of its use–may include employment of profiling techniques to better focus force application, profiling usually is considered a politically conservative mode of control. More recently, however, a case has been made by James Forman, Jr., among others, that political conservatives
