The story is about a couple suing the taxi commission over racial profiling. Sure it doesn't matter what color skin they have but id hardly call explaining the situation, how and why the couple arein the right to be whitewashing the story. How would you propose the author should have tippy toed around the color of their skin while still explaining exactly what they are suuing over, - which by the way, is the fact that the commission mistakingly labeled her as white being part of the problem.
My favorite sentence is "biracial woman mistakenly identified as white". Racial profiling right there. There is no valid reason to even consider if someone's skin is tanned or genetically darker for purposes of taxi regulation. I would led it slide for maybe a dermatologist.
It's medically relevant far beyond dermatology; having darker skin than normal for one's racial background can be a symptom (e.g., of primary adrenal insufficiency), while knowing a patient's racial background can be important for diagnosing and treating diseases which are far more common in some racial groups than others (e.g., drepanocytosis).
But absolutely agree that it is not relevant to taxi regulation.
Asset forfeiture: "Asset forfeiture is a form of confiscation of assets by the state, pursuant to law. It typically applies to the alleged proceeds or instrumentalities of crime."
What bothers me about this practice is that a person's assets - possibly assets like a car, that the person depends on for their livelihood - can be seized without the person having been convicted of any crime. This seems to be a blatant violation of due process.
Probably not directly, but via the police. Remember that the article indicates that some sort of legal kerfuffle took place, and it may be reasonable to assume that at some point the police got involved. This makes sense as the man was suspected of being an illegal cab driver, in which case it is easy to seize the car as "evidence" or as an asset/instrument in the alleged crime.
Edit: Happy to see it's been restored.