Insuring Protection.

• Author: Rimensnyder, Sara
• Position: Racial profiling - Brief Article

Racial profiling by police has sparked protest and debate nationwide. It has also inspired a business plan: A legal insurance company has decided that profiling's likely victims are a market waiting to be tapped.

Based in Ada, Oklahoma, Pre-Paid Legal Services offers clients telephone access to an attorney 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Subscribers, who pay $10 to $26 per month, also get a membership card to flash at police officers. The card is supposed to jolt the cops into accountability by reminding them that they're dealing with a citizen who has rights--and an attorney.

Meanwhile, several states...