Rasse, Recht, Racial Profiling

Johannes Michael Siegel places the focus of his study on the legal conceptualization of racial profiling beyond the individual case. He develops a doctrinal definition of racial profiling and demonstrates that it does not consist of isolated instances of unlawful conduct but rather constitutes a structural problem of police law enforcement. He bases this on a precise interpretation of the legal concept of race as a process of social ascription within the meaning of Article 3(3) of the German Basic Law. On this basis, the author conceptualizes racial profiling as an executive measure based on a racializing discretionary decision - also when unintentional - operating to the detriment of structurally discrimination-vulnerable groups. He shows that racial profiling is invariably unlawful and yet continues to be reproduced within the existing framework of police law. The study systematically examines the relevant statutory authorization bases of federal and state police law as well as their application in practice. By combining doctrinal legal analysis with empirical insights from policing research, it becomes apparent that discretion, institutional routines, and police knowledge structures interact in a problematic manner. This synergy gives rise to structural racial profiling, even though the legal norms themselves are not necessarily designed in a discriminatory way. Finally, Johannes Michael Siegel develops concrete strategies of containment, demonstrating how effective legal responses to racial profiling can be achieved through procedural safeguards, external oversight mechanisms, and institutional reforms. In doing so, he makes a fundamental contribution to anti-discrimination doctrine, police law, and the socio-legal analysis of state action.