NYCLU on Trump DOJ Order to Dismiss Mayor Adams Charges
Civil Liberties Union
The second of two federal judges has approved a settlement with the New York City Police Department that protects New York Muslims and others from discriminatory and unjustified surveillance.
The new rules govern when and how investigations are conducted, and provide for an independent civilian representative inside the NYPD who will act as a check against surveillance abuses.
The settlement was reached in two federal lawsuits, Raza v. City of New York and Handschu v. Special Services Division, and had to be approved by the judges in both cases.
A previous version of the settlement was announced in January 2016. In October, the judge in the Handschu case, Charles S. Haight Jr., praised the overall agreement but said that additional safeguards for the civilian representative were needed. The parties submitted a revised settlement on March 6, which Judge Haight approved a week later, putting the rules into effect. Last night, the judge in the Raza case, Pamela Chen, also approved the agreement, ending the Raza lawsuit.
Raza was brought in June 2013 by the American Civil Liberties Union, the Creating Law Enforcement Accountability & Responsibility (CLEAR) project of Main Street Legal Services at CUNY School of Law, the New York Civil Liberties Union, and the law firm Morrison & Foerster LLP. The case was filed on behalf of religious and community leaders, mosques, and a charitable organization alleging they were swept up in the NYPD’s dragnet surveillance of Muslims. The suit charged that the NYPD violated the U.S. and New York State Constitutions by singling out and stigmatizing entire communities of New Yorkers based on their religion. The case sought systemic reforms to prevent law enforcement abuses.
Separately in 2013, lawyers in the Handschu case, including the NYCLU, filed papers arguing that the NYPD’s investigations of Muslims violated a long-standing consent decree in that case, which was a class action to protect New Yorkers’ lawful political and religious activities from unwarranted NYPD surveillance.
“We and our clients are very pleased that the courts have approved this groundbreaking settlement,” said the attorneys for the Raza case plaintiffs in a statement. “Now New York Muslims and all New Yorkers will have strong protections from unconstitutional religious profiling and surveillance. This agreement sends a critical message to the federal government and police forces around the country that law enforcement can and must do its job without resorting to discrimination.”
The settlement includes these provisions:
The plaintiffs in the Raza case in addition to Imam Raza are Asad Dandia, Masjid Al-Ansar mosque, the charity Muslims Giving Back, Masjid At-Taqwa mosque, and Mohammad Elshinawy.
Lawyers on the Raza case include Arthur Eisenberg and Beth Haroules of the NYCLU, Hina Shamsi, Ashley Gorski and Patrick Toomey of the ACLU, Ramzi Kassem, Naz Ahmad and Tarek Z. Ismail of CLEAR, and Hector Gallegos, Kyle Mooney, and Adam Hunt of Morrison & Foerster LLP.
A comparison document filed in the Raza case showing changes to the 2003 Handschu Guidelines based on today’s agreement is here:
A comparison document filed in the Raza case showing the most recent changes is here:
https://www.nyclu.org/sites/default/files/field_documents/2016_v_2017.pdf
A document filed in the Handschu case explaining the changes to the guidelines is here:
https://www.aclu.org/NYPD-Handschu-declaration
More information on the case and plaintiffs is here:
https://www.aclu.org/cases/raza-v-city-new-york-legal-challenge-nypd-muslim-surveillance-program