Plaintiffs challenging racial profiling must contend with the Supreme Court
's decision in City of Los Angeles v. Lyons, which restricted standing for
injunctive relief against government officials. This Note articulates a fra
mework for assessing standing for injunctive relief based on case law follo
wing Lyons: Plaintiff must demonstrate a sufficiently "credible threat" of
future harm where government conduct was authorized by a policy, practice,
or custom and where plaintiff was law-abiding.
Lyons analysis focuses exclusively on an individual's likelihood of future
harm because the Court was reluctant to let the grievance of one individual
support city-wide injunctive relief: Where racial profiling cases raise eq
ual protection claims alleging that groups of individuals are targeted by p
olice, the concerns supporting the Lyons requirement become less relevant.
Although the Court has never explicitly distinguished Lyons, in the Court's
equal protection decisions, standing is presumed where a group is harmed.
Following these decisions, Lyons should be distinguished in racial profilin
g cases.