Class action civil rights lawsuit against Buffalo Police Department will go to trial
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 2, 2026
Contact: Patrick Fowler, Communications Strategist | fowler@nclej.org
Buffalo, NY — A class action civil rights lawsuit against the Buffalo Police Department over unconstitutional and racially discriminatory traffic enforcement and checkpoint practices is going to trial.
“We are thrilled with the court’s decision and our clients are looking forward to the chance to tell their stories at trial,” said Claudia Wilner, Director of Litigation and Advocacy at the National Center for Law and Economic Justice. “The City of Buffalo has gone far too long without facing true accountability for its longstanding and systemic discrimination against Black and Latino motorists. Now the city will have to defend its discriminatory policies and practices in open court.”
Center for Constitutional Rights Senior Attorney Chinyere Ezie, who grew up in Buffalo, said, “The Buffalo Police Department has discriminated against Black and Latino motorists for more than a decade without facing any real consequences. That stops now, with this case. We are excited to be finally getting our day in court.”
Read the Court opinion and order here.
Background:
In 2013, the City of Buffalo established a program of traffic checkpoints through which BPD officers stopped Black and Latino motorists without any suspicion of wrongdoing, attempted to develop evidence of criminal activity, and issued tickets for as many alleged traffic violations as possible. The BPD ran over 1,600 checkpoints and placed them in predominantly Black and Latino neighborhoods seven times as often as in predominantly white neighborhoods. In addition, from 2012 to 2022, Black and Latino drivers accounted for 86.9 percent of tinted window citations issued during traffic stops in cases where race could be determined. From 2020-2022, the BPD issued more than three times more stop receipts for stops that did not lead to a citation in BPD districts that had the highest percentage minority population than in the BPD district that had the lowest minority population.
The lawsuit was first filed in June 2018 on behalf of Buffalo-based advocacy group Black Love Resists in the Rust and thousands of individuals by the National Center for Law and Economic Justice, the Center for Constitutional Rights, Western New York Law Center, and the law firm of Covington & Burling LLP. The lawsuit says the City’s practices violate the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. The plaintiffs are seeking damages and an end to the unconstitutional practices targeting Buffalo’s communities of color.
For more information, visit the Center for Constitutional Rights’ case page.
The National Center for Law and Economic Justice (NCLEJ) advances racial and economic justice for low-income families, individuals, and communities across the country through ground-breaking impact litigation, policy advocacy, and support for grassroots organizing. Founded in 1965, NCLEJ protects access to critical benefits such as food stamps, Medicaid, and childcare; empowers low-wage workers, advocates for people with disabilities; and fights unlawful debt collection.
The Center for Constitutional Rights works with communities under threat to fight for justice and liberation through litigation, advocacy, and strategic communications. Since 1966, the Center for Constitutional Rights has taken on oppressive systems of power, including structural racism, gender oppression, economic inequity, and governmental overreach. Learn more at ccrjustice.org. Follow the Center for Constitutional Rights on social media: Center for Constitutional Rights on Facebook, @theCCR on Twitter, and ccrjustice on Instagram.
The Western New York Law Center is a non-profit legal organization in Buffalo. We provide free, direct legal services and impact litigation throughout Western New York, and work through coalitions to promote economic and social justice in our area.
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