A criminal defense attorney with a quarter-century experience gives advice to young men of color in order to avoid and minimize harm done if they get arrested. However, it is useful for all citizens to know about and exercise their rights if faced with imprisonment and in other interactions with police officers, whether they are guilty or innocent. In fact, if men of color know their rights, police will be much less likely to take advantage of them. Here are the words of wisdom that Shipp imparts.

• Remain silent. Although it is human nature to want to try to talk your way out of difficult situations, it is best to resist the urge to do so. Any or all of your words can be used against you in the courtroom. That means not talking about the case over the telephone with relatives or in person, as all of the conversations you have while in jail may be recorded. If providing your name or ID or when an attorney is present, provide short, succinct answers, and do not embellish.
• Do not give permission for cops to search your house or vehicle. If they have sufficient cause, they can obtain a search warrant.
• Always be polite and courteous to cops, or you may be charged with resisting arrest, etc.
• Call an attorney if you are facing criminal charges as soon as possible.
• Never run from cops, and ask permission to reach for items (such as ID). You do not want the officer to think that you are reaching for a gun.
• Be careful about what you post online about the police and law enforcement issues, or the information could come back to haunt you.
• If you go to court, get a haircut, have neat and clean cut fingernails, wear a business suit, cover tattoos and have a pleasant demeanor because the jury will be watching and judging you.

Justice While Black: Helping African-American Families Navigate and Survive the Criminal Justice System by Robbin Shipp and Nick Chiles, 2014

The author's experience as a defense attorney sheds light on the racism that is endemic in the United States criminal justice system. I was interested to learn that 75% of convictions that are overturned based on DNA evidence were made on faulty eyewitness testimony. Recently, police brutality has become a forefront issue in the media. One of these cases involved a black man who died in the back of a police vehicle. Although he was shot in the right temple with his hands cuffed behind his back, the death was ruled a suicide.

The United States is the most over incarcerated nation in the world, and African American males are disproportionately imprisoned. 33% of the male inmates in this country are black, while 12% of the US population is African American. Prison is big business in America. The Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) makes mega bucks running prisons. Also, police officers (though not NYC, as I have recently heard) are often pressured to fill arrest quotas, even though crime has declined since the 1990s. In addition, public defenders are so overburdened with heavy caseloads that they often convince clients to accept plea deals simply so that they can move on to the next case.

Books about racial profiling