"Seven out of every 10 minority drivers whose cars were searched, there was nothing there. From a social-policy point of view, that's a disaster," said Attorney General John J. Farmer Jr. "Did we do enough soon enough? The answer is no, or we wouldn't be here today."

In addition to showing an overwhelmingly disproportionate numbers of minorities being stopped and searched for drugs, the documents indicate that state leaders were aware of the situation.

According to Farmer, former N.J. Attorney General Peter Verniero and his predecessors were aware for more than 10 years that minority drivers on the turnpike were being stopped and searched far more often than whites.

Farmer said that the U.S. Supreme Court allowed police to use race as a factor in motor vehicle stops, and the U.S. Justice Department included race in profiles of traffickers believed to be using the turnpike as a drug pipeline.

"What you'll see is an agency and a department struggling with these uncertainties," Farmer said. "There was no overarching conspiracy to cover this up. There was an attempt to understand it. There was an attempt to put it into context. My hope is by getting all of this out, the people will understand, will see the whole picture."

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