David Cole

In the following viewpoint, David Cole contends that antiloitering laws, such as the one that had been instituted in Chicago, do not reduce gang violence and are unfairly directed toward African Americans. He maintains that the loitering law is not responsible for Chicago’s declining crime rate. In addition, Cole asserts that the ordinance increases the distrust minorities have for police, because the target is primarily young African American men. Cole is the Nation’s legal affairs correspondent and the author of No Equal Justice: Race and Class in the American Criminal Justice System. This viewpoint was written prior to the June 10, 1999, U.S. Supreme Court decision that ruled the Chicago ordinance unconstitutional.

As you read, consider the following questions:

1. What are the arguments presented by supporters of the ordinance, as...