Originally Posted by
Earl Grey
If you didn't mean to imply "because of prejudice", civil rights is a clumsy example, very susceptible to misinterpretation. The responses demonstrate that; I have no dog in this fight, and I absolutely read it that way.
If your point is just that "there are bad laws and bad judgements", you might consider using a less charged analogy that won't alienate more people than it persuades - they aren't hard to find.
Thanks for yours and others responses. I ran this by four colleagues, all professors at a top 50 uni's (so not overly dumb) and none realizing I was the author. None came away with anything but what I'd intended, none assumed there was any inference of equality, and none were offended in any way including one who is a black woman. Maybe A&S posters are a bit more sensitive than most.
In any case, I still stand by my original point that just because a cop thought she was being bad and a judge agreed doesn't mean she was in any way. Even if the law clearly states that she was wrong doesn't mean she was.