Senator’s Claim of Race-Based Traffic Stop Is Rejected

A federal judge on Tuesday threw out a lawsuit filed against the Beverly Hills Police Department by state Sen. Kevin Murray (D-Culver City), who claimed officers stopped him while driving because he is black.

Murray was pulled over at about 2 a.m. on June 3 as he drove his Corvette through the intersection of LaCienega and Wilshire boulevards on the way home from celebrating his primary election victory.

Police officers said they stopped Murray because his car had no front license plate, and his rear license plate did not check out on their computer. But in his lawsuit, Murray claimed that Beverly Hills police have a “pattern or practice” of stopping blacks because of their race. He asked the judge to issue an injunction against the Police Department, prohibiting its officers from conducting such traffic stops.

In his ruling Tuesday, U.S. District Judge William D. Keller rejected Murray’s claim, and said it would be inappropriate for the court to issue the injunction.

“If the court were to issue the injunction sought in this case, it would be required to evaluate every action taken by the [Beverly Hills Police Department] with respect to each stop of a black man in the city,” Keller wrote. “This would be burdensome to this court and . . . the city would effectively lose virtually all of its authority over traffic stops involving black males.”

Skip Miller, the attorney for Beverly Hills, said the judge’s ruling showed Murray’s suit was without merit and that the city did not stop motorists based on race.

Murray was in China and could not be reached for comment.