NEW YORK, NY March 09, 2007 —In 1994, newly elected Mayor Rudy Giuliani and his police chief Bill Bratton unveiled a plan to restore a city suffering from a crack epidemic and high crime. Under "quality of life" policing, the NYPD began enforcing a zero-tolerance policy of even minor infractions. A key feature of the new strategy targeted marijuana use.

Misdemeanors soared from fewer than 1000 in 1991 to over 50,000 in 2000. Now, new findings suggest blacks and Hispanics have disproportionately borne the brunt of these arrests. Jonah Engle has more.