"The NAACP has withdrawn its support of Senator Kevin Murray's bill because any racial profiling bill without data collection is meaningless," said Walter Wilson, Legislative Director of the NAACP. "The NAACP believes that comprehensive data collection is critical to the process of ending racial profiling. Without data collection - there is no progress on this issue."

In addition to the NAACP, Murray is losing support in the Legislature and among high-ranking democrats. Speaker Bob Hertzberg, Senator John Burton, and Senator Liz Figueroa, co-authors of the bill, say they are withdrawing their names. Assemblymembers Dion Aroner, Mike Honda, and Elaine Alquist have also withdrawn their support. On June 5th, the Attorney General Bill Lockyer withdrew his support from SB 66.

"The current racial profiling bill is a fraud," said Michelle Alexander, Director of the Racial Justice Project of the ACLU of Northern California. "Giving business cards to victims of racial profiling is like offering asprin to cancer patients. Business cards might be good for some problems, but they will do nothing to solve the problem of racial profiling. Data collection is an essential first step in addressing racial profiling."

More than 50 law enforcement agencies in California, and more than 100 agencies nationwide, have agreed to collect data voluntarily. On Monday, June 5th Missouri Governor Mel Carnahan signed a racial profiling bill that includes comprehensive data collection. Missouri is the fifth state in the nation to enact a data collection bill to fight racial profiling. The other states include Connecticut, North Carolina, Kansas and Washington. Data bills were introduced or are still pending in twenty-four states.

"Instead of leading the nation, California is way behind when it comes to solving the problem of racial profiling," said Marcos Contreras of the League of United Latin American Citizens. "If the Governor wants to lead the nation in the fight against racial profiling, he must sign a bill that includes data collection. The current bill is the weakest racial profiling bill in the country."

"As a victim of racial profiling, I urge Senator Murray to amend his bill and include data collection," said Michael McBride, a Youth Minister at Bible Way Baptist Church in San Jose. "If Governor Davis is truly concerned about discriminatory police practices, he will sign a mandatory data collection bill this year, rather than giving us rhetoric and a useless bill."

The Racial Justice Coalition includes a broad array of organizations, including the NAACP, LULAC, ACLU, Lawyer's Committee for Civil Rights, the M