2001

Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore granted an absolute pardon to Earl Washington Jr., a Black man with an intellectual disability who had falsely confessed to murder in 1983 and spent 17 years in prison, nine on death row. Washington came within nine days of execution in 1985. DNA evidence excluded him as the perpetrator. His case became a central example in the national debate over the death penalty's application to Black defendants with intellectual disabilities.

Timothy Thomas, 19, was shot and killed by Cincinnati officer Stephen Roach while fleeing on foot. Thomas was unarmed; his outstanding warrants were all for minor traffic citations. His death — the 15th Black man killed by Cincinnati police in six years — triggered three days of uprising in the city. Roach was acquitted of all charges in September 2001.

Officer Stephen Roach shot and killed Timothy Thomas, 19, an unarmed Black man, in Cincinnati's Over-the-Rhine neighborhood. Thomas was wanted on 14 misdemeanor traffic warrants. His killing — the 15th Black man killed by Cincinnati police since 1995 — sparked four days of uprisings. Roach was acquitted of negligent homicide. The city reached a settlement with the ACLU mandating police reforms.

Officer Stephen Roach shot Timothy Thomas, 19, wanted on misdemeanor traffic warrants, in Over-the-Rhine. His killing — the 15th Black man killed by Cincinnati police since 1995 — sparked four days of uprisings. Roach was acquitted of negligent homicide.

The NAACP filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against Florida officials over the systematic disenfranchisement of Black voters in the November 2000 election, citing the DBT purge list, broken voting machines in Black precincts, and police checkpoints near polling sites. The suit led to a consent decree requiring reforms to Florida's election administration.

Following the police killing of Timothy Thomas on April 7, 2001, Cincinnati's Black community rose up in three days of protests, marches, and unrest in the Over-the-Rhine neighborhood. A curfew was imposed. The uprising led to the Cincinnati Collaborative Agreement, a landmark police reform settlement brokered with the ACLU and Fraternal Order of Police.

In the weeks after September 11, DOJ authorized mass detention of Muslim, Arab, and South Asian men; Black Muslims faced dual targeting. The NYPD Demographics Unit surveilled Black Muslim mosques, student groups, and businesses without criminal predicate. ACLU documented hundreds of cases of Black men detained, fired, or searched based on religion and perceived ethnicity.