Uniformed Fire Officers Association et al v. DeBlasio et al

The New York Civil Liberties Union joined as amicus a case filed by a collection of police and fire unions against the city to block the release of CCRB disciplinary records to the public. The NYCLU received a collection of police misconduct data from the CCRB through a FOIL request prior to the lawsuit being filed.

The NYCLU planned to publish the raw data and a searchable database of the records on July 23, but the court issued an order during a hearing late on July 22 barring the NYCLU from publishing or sharing these records.

The NYCLU filed a motion arguing that the court’s order is a prior restraint that violates the First Amendment. The United States Supreme Court long ago held in The Pentagon Papers case that gag orders like the one imposed on the NYCLU are flatly unconstitutional.