If NYPD’s “Stop and Frisk” policy seems unlawful to you, you may be on to something. Legal experts fueled by recent federal and state court rulings conclude that the practice may have to radically change. The practice, which may be unconstitutional on the basis of its provisions, disproportionately affects Black and Latino males in the city of 8 million. Philadelphia, which has a similar stop-and-frisk policy, was sued in a class-action case last year that forced them to lay out a model of police accountability. New York City is being urged to do the same.

“People are starting to wonder: ‘What’s really going on here? Is this a racial policy?’ And judges read the newspaper too,” said professor Randolph M. McLaughlin to the New York Times. While the city claims that the program is concentrated in high-crime areas and is not targeted at minorities, 87 percent of all people stopped are Black and Latino.