Police Surveillance of Dangerous Muslims ENDING in New York City

According to the Washington Times (April 5, 2018) - The New York City Police Department is ending a surveillance program that targeted possible radicalized Muslims and mosques. And those who were watched are getting cash settlements from taxpayers.

The Muslim groups said roughly 20 mosques, two Muslim student organizations in New Jersey, 14 restaurants, two grade schools and 11 retail stores faced surveillance. Visitors and customers were photographed and undercover officers and informants infiltrated some of the organizations during a decade-long period.

The organizations sued, saying they were being singled out purely because of their religion. A federal district court ruled against them in 2014 but the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals stepped in a year later and said their lawsuit could proceed, comparing the surveillance to targeting of the Japanese during World War II.

The city will pay $47,500 to businesses and mosques who suffered financially from the surveillance, as well as $25,000 to the individual plaintiffs. The city will also pay $950,000 in fees to the lawyers for the Muslim plaintiffs.

Under the agreement, the plaintiffs’ lawyers will also be able to review and make recommendations on policy and training guidelines surrounding religious and First Amendment activities.
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This is not just an issue in New York City. Targeted surveillance of individuals (both physical surveillance and social media surveillance) by police and military units, as part of their anti-terrorism programs has been a concern for many years.

The problem isn't that law enforcement, with probable cause - or even a reasonable articulable suspicion - conducted surveillance to detect and prevent a terrorist attack. Rather, we see out of control surveillance of individuals based on their practice of protected 1st Amendment activities.