Sherron Rolax, 21, claims he was targeted by New Jersey State Police because he is black and was victimized, in part, because Whitman and the troopers had a "cavalier attitude" toward racial profiling.

Smiling ex-New Jersey Gov. Christie Todd Whitman goes through the motions of searching suspect Sherron Rolax while accompanying Camden police officers on patrol. This photograph, made by an unidentified law enforcement officer and on file with the state Attorney General's office, is among the evidence sought by minority troopers alleging bias in the New Jersey State Police. (AP Photo)

The suit, filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Camden, seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages. Three troopers and Col. Carl A. Williams, state police superintendent at the time, are also named as defendants.

Whitman, now administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, declined comment Tuesday because she has not seen the suit, a spokeswoman said. Spokesmen for the state police and the governor's office also declined comment.

Rolax was 17 and unarmed when he was frisked by Whitman, who was patrolling Camden streets as part of a crackdown on crime. The photograph, taken by a trooper, became public last summer.

Critics said the picture proves Whitman encouraged racial profiling, a claim the ex-governor has denied.

The suit claims Capt. Edgar Hess offered a week's vacation to any trooper who could photograph Whitman frisking a suspect. Hess, who is named as a defendant in the suit, has repeatedly denied the allegation.

Rolax, who was not arrested on the night he was patted down, now lives in a halfway house as part of a four-year sentence on unrelated drug charges.

© Copyright 2001 The Associated Press

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