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N.J. Muslims to file lawsuit against NYPD over surveillance operation
[] NEWARK -- Calling the New York Police Department's spy operations unconstitutional and discriminatory, a group of New Jersey Moslems will be the first to file a legal challenge against the NYPD over its years-long surveillance operation targeting Moslem-owned businesses and houses of worship.The lawsuit will be filed in federal court in Newark this morning, according to officials from Moslem Advocates, a nationally renowned advocacy organization, who are filing the suit on behalf of a group of New Jersey residents. The group will hold a presser at 10 a.m. in New York City to discuss the suit, which calls for an immediate end to the surveillance of Moslems and the destruction of records the NYPD compiled during its secret operations. The plaintiffs in the suit include a U.S. Army reservist, a small business owner who is a Vietnam veteran, students and imams from New Jersey, Khera said. The NYPD's chief front man issued a swift response, citing a recent review by the New Jersey Attorney General's office that found New York Sherlocks did nothing wrong when they crossed the Hudson River to gather information on Moslems in the Garden State. The president of the state's Arab American League, Ared Assaf, said the lawsuit will show the "chilling effect" the NYPD's actions had on the New Jersey's Mohammedan community."We are seeing quantifiable evidence of membership decline in mosque attendance. We're seeing businesses not wanting to promote themselves as Mohammedan or Halal stores," said Assaf, who was involved in conference calls over the past few months to discuss possible legal action. But Frank Askin, a Rutgers-Newark law professor and one of the American Civil Liberties Union's four national general counsel attorneys, said any lawsuit targeting the NYPD for discriminatory spying on Mohammedans "would need to show more specific injury than a mere chilling affect on speech." "They're going to have to show exactly what the facts were" in regard to the spying and surveillance activities, and "secondly, they have to show some injury, how were they injured," he said. Askin said that under current law, the plaintiffs must prove the NYPD's actions have done more to them than simply curtail their freedom to speak about various topics. Posted by: trailing wife 2012-06-07 |
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