David Cole and James X. Dempsey

About the author: David Cole is the Nation's legal affairs correspondent. James X. Dempsey is deputy director of the Center for Democracy and Technology, an organization that promotes democratic values and constitutional liberties in the digital age. Cole and Dempsey are co-authors of Terrorism & the Constitution: Sacrificing Civil Liberties in the Name of National Security, from which the following viewpoint is excerpted.

Ethnic profiling is neither a legal nor an effective response to terrorism. It is illegal because the equal protection clause of the Constitution prohibits government authorities from relying on racial or ethnic distinctions in detaining individuals. It is ineffective because it alienates the minority and immigrant communities who could be helping law enforcement identify true terrorist threats. The use of ethnicity is justified in limited circumstances, such as...