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Leading Groups Stand Strong With American Muslims in Appeal of NYPD Spying Lawsuit
Last night, dozens of organizations and individuals representing diverse interests and faiths filed amicus briefs in support of a lawsuit challenging the blanket surveillance of Muslims in New Jersey by the New York Police Department (NYPD). Late last week, Muslim Advocates and the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) appealed a federal district court's dismissal of the case, Hassan et al v.
NEW YORK, NY
Last night, dozens of organizations and individuals representing diverse interests and faiths filed amicus briefs in support of a lawsuit challenging the blanket surveillance of Muslims in New Jersey by the New York Police Department (NYPD). Late last week, Muslim Advocates and the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) appealed a federal district court's dismissal of the case, Hassan et al v. City of New York, and demanded that the NYPD stop violating American Muslims' rights by targeting them for surveillance.
In one brief, law enforcement officials wrote, "Bias-based policing is not only ineffective, it is counterproductive to law enforcement goals. For law enforcement to function effectively, local police must form bonds with the communities they serve. Bias-based policing methods undermine that goal."
Organizations and individuals that filed amicus briefs include 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement Who Care, Karen Korematsu, ACLU NJ, MALDEF, Interfaith Alliance Foundation, Bend the Arc: A Jewish Partnership for Justice, Police Chief Chris Burbank, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, Sikh Coalition, the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA, AALDEF, Latino Justice, National Council of Jewish Women, the Auburn Theological Seminary, DRUM, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, ADC, and New Jersey Muslim Lawyer's Association.
In another brief, descendants of Japanese Americans who were subject to internment during World War II argued, "The history of the Japanese internment, and the ensuing apologies and atonement of each branch of the United States government, provide twin lessons. First, infringement of rights on the basis of class membership--race in the World War II era, and religion in this case--is not only inherently injurious but can and does produce injury. Second, a proffered military or police exigency, no matter how great, must be subjected to the strictest of scrutiny on the merits rather than accepted at the threshold as the basis for dismissal of an equal protection claim."
"Plaintiffs were spied on, not because of any criminal suspicion whatsoever, but because of their faith --an indisputably unconstitutional basis for police surveillance," said CCR Legal Director Baher Azmy. "The district court's decision effectively allows the City of New York to treat Muslims as second class citizens, and ratifies ugly stereotypes that could upend decades of anti-discrimination law. We hope the Court of Appeals will not let this broad sanction of racial profiling and religious discrimination stand, and we are pleased that so many prominent organizations and individuals are standing with us in the case."
Judge William Martini had dismissed the case in February, ruling in a 10-page summary opinion, without oral argument, that plaintiffs had not suffered harm and that any harm the plaintiffs might have suffered was not the result of the unlawful surveillance program, but of the Pulitzer Prize-winning reporting by the Associated Press that exposed it. The court also endorsed the City's argument that its targeting of Muslims on the basis of their faith alone was justified in response to the attacks of September 11, 2001. In more than ten years of operation, the City's discriminatory program has failed to unearth a single lead.
"Discriminating against innocent Americans based on their faith is wrong," said Muslim Advocates Legal Director Glenn Katon. "The NYPD has stripped individuals of the freedom to openly practice their faiths, and we hope that this lawsuit will put an end to the discriminatory policies that stand against some of the most important values that led to America's founding."
The Hassan plaintiffs comprise a broad group with diverse backgrounds, and include a decorated Iraq war veteran who currently serves as a US ARMY reservist, Rutgers students, and the former principal of a grade school for Muslim girls.
Since 2002, the NYPD has spied on at least 20 mosques, 14 restaurants, 11 retail stores, two grade schools, and two Muslim Student Associations in New Jersey. The monitoring has included video surveillance, photographing, community mapping, and infiltration. Moreover, internal documents, including a list of 28 "ancestries of interest," reveal that the NYPD used racial and ethnic backgrounds as proxies to identify and target adherents to the Muslim faith. The NYPD recently disbanded one of the main units through which it conducted the surveillance, but advocates say it is clear that discriminatory policing against Muslims has continued.
Read the appeal filing here.
The full list of organizations and individuals that filed amicus briefs is below.
- Amicus Brief of Americans for Separation of Church and State
- Amicus Brief of the Brennan Center
- Amicus Brief of ACLU-NJ et al
- Amicus Brief of Korematsu et al
- Amicus Brief of Reporters Committee
- Amicus Brief of AALDEF et al
- Amicus Brief of Law Enforcement Organizations
- Amicus Brief of Religious Liberty Groups
Or click here to read the amicus briefs.
For more information about the case, please visit www.muslimadvocates.org/endspying and https://www.ccrjustice.org/hassan.
Hassan was initially filed by Muslim Advocates. The Center for Constitutional Rights and Gibbons, P.C. have joined as co-counsel.
List of organizations and groups that filed amicus briefs:
- 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement Who Care
- American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC)
- American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey
- The American Humanist Association
- Americans United for Separation of Church and State
- Arab American Association of New York (AAANY)
- Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF)
- Asian Americans Advancing Justice -- Asian Law Caucus (ALC)
- The Association of Black Women Lawyers of New Jersey
- The Auburn Theological Seminary
- Bend the Arc: A Jewish Partnership for Justice
- The Bill of Rights Defense Committee
- Brennan Center for Justice
- The Central Conference of American Rabbis
- Chris Burbank (Salt Lake City Chief of Police)
- The Council of Islamic Organization of Greater Chicago (CIOGC)
- Creating Law Enforcement Accountability & Responsibility (CLEAR)
- DRUM -- South Asian Organizing Center (formerly Desis Rising Up and Moving)
- Eric Adams (Brooklyn Borough President)
- The Garden State Bar Association
- The Hispanic Bar Association of New Jersey
- Holly Yasui (Daughter of Minoru Yasui)
- The Hindu Temple Society of North America
- Imam Mahdi Association of Marjaeya (IMAM)
- Interfaith Alliance Foundation
- The Islamic Shura Council of Southern California
- The Islamic Society of North America (ISNA)
- Jay Hirabayashi (Son of Gary Hirabayashi)
- Karen Korematsu (Daughter of Fred Korematsu)
- Latino Justice PRLDEF
- Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF)
- The Muslim Alliance in North America
- Muslim American Civil Liberties Coalition (MACLC)
- Muslim Bar Association of New York (MuBANY)
- Muslim Congress
- Muslim Consultative Network (MCN)
- Muslims for Peace
- Muslim Legal Fund of America (MLFA)
- Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC)
- The National Council of Jewish Women
- The National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA (NCC)
- National Lawyers Guild -- New York City Chapter (NLG-NYC)
- National Network for Arab American Communities (NNAAC)
- The National Religious Campaign Against Torture
- New Jersey Muslim Lawyers Association (NJMLA)
- North Jersey Media Group Inc.
- The Northern California Islamic Council
- Project SALAM (Support and Legal Advocacy for Muslims)
- The Queens Federation of Churches, Inc.
- The Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association
- The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press
- Shia Rights Watch (SRW)
- The Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund
- The Sikh Coalition
- South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT)
- Ta'leef Collective
- T'ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights
- The Union for Reform Judaism
- The Unitarian Universalist Legislative Ministry of New Jersey
- The Universal Muslim Association of America (UMAA)
- Universal Muslim Association of America Advocacy (UMAA Advocacy)
- The Women of Reform Judaism
The Center for Constitutional Rights is dedicated to advancing and protecting the rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. CCR is committed to the creative use of law as a positive force for social change.
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'This Fight Is Just Beginning': Federal Judge Blocks Trump-GOP Law's Attack on Planned Parenthood
"There are no other providers who can fill the gap if the 'defunding' of Planned Parenthood is allowed to stand," said the Planned Parenthood Federation of America and two state chapters.
Jul 08, 2025
A federal judge on Monday temporarily blocked a provision of the new Republican budget law that bars Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood health centers across the United States, an attack that reproductive rights advocates warn could shutter hundreds of clinics nationwide.
The decision by Judge Indira Talwani of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, an Obama appointee, came shortly after the Planned Parenthood Federation of America and its chapters in Massachusetts and Utah sued over the provision, which establishes a one-year Medicaid funding ban for healthcare organizations that provide abortions and received more than $800,000 in federal funding in 2023.
The lawsuit argues that the "clear purpose" of the provision is to "categorically prohibit health centers associated with Planned Parenthood from receiving Medicaid reimbursements... in order to punish them for lawful activity, namely advocating for and providing legal abortion access wholly outside the Medicaid program and without using any federal funds."
The provision therefore "violates plaintiffs' Equal Protection and First Amendment rights," the lawsuit states.
Talwani ordered the Trump administration to "take all steps necessary to ensure that Medicaid funding continues to be disbursed in the customary manner and timeframes" to Planned Parenthood and its members as the case proceeds.
Planned Parenthood welcomed Talwani's decision to issue a temporary injunction but stressed that the legal battle is far from over.
"We're grateful that the court acted swiftly to block this unconstitutional law attacking Planned Parenthood providers and patients," the organization said in a statement late Monday. "Already, in states across the country, providers and health center staff have been forced to turn away patients who use Medicaid to get basic sexual and reproductive healthcare because President Trump and his backers in Congress passed a law to block them from going to Planned Parenthood."
"There are no other providers who can fill the gap if the 'defunding' of Planned Parenthood is allowed to stand," the group added. "The fight is just beginning, and we look forward to our day in court."
"The Trump administration's hell-bent ambitions to close our clinics and abandon our patients won't stop us."
Planned Parenthood warned that if the provision—which anti-abortion groups praised—is allowed to stand, nearly 200 health centers across dozens of states would be at risk of permanent closure due to the one-year Medicaid funding ban and more than a million patients could lose access to care, including STI treatment, cancer screenings, and birth control.
According to Planned Parenthood, 60% of its health centers are located in areas that are rural, medically underserved, or plagued by a shortage of healthcare professionals.
More than half of Planned Parenthood member patients rely on Medicaid to access crucial health services, the group estimates.
"The Trump administration's hell-bent ambitions to close our clinics and abandon our patients won't stop us," said Dominique Lee, president and CEO of the Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts. "Let me be crystal clear: We are not intimidated. We were built for this moment. Here in Massachusetts, we fight back, and we will never be bullied into turning our backs on healthcare or human rights."
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100+ People Dead in Texas—Just 2 Months After Former National Weather Service Chiefs Warned of 'Nightmare' Scenario
While the agency and outside meteorologists say the NWS provided timely and accurate forecasts, the fatal flooding is generating fresh alarm about cuts and open positions.
Jul 07, 2025
As the official death toll from catastrophic flooding in Texas ticked above 100 on Monday, concerns over vacancies as well as job and potential funding cuts at the National Weather Service continued to mount—even as the NWS and independent meteorologists insisted that the agency had "issued timely warnings in advance of the deadly floods."
The flooding came just over two months after all living former directors of the NWS published a letter sounding the alarm about President Donald Trump's proposed budget for fiscal year 2026 and its cuts to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the parent agency of the NWS in the U.S. Department of Commerce.
The five men—Louis Uccellini, Jack Hayes, Brig. Gen. D.L. Johnson, Brig. Gen. John J. Kelly Jr., and E.W. "Joe" Friday—wrote on May 2 that "even if the National Weather Service remains level funded, given the interconnectedness of all of the parts of NOAA, there will be impacts to weather forecasting as well. We cannot let this happen."
"These proposed cuts come just days after approximately 300 National Weather Service... employees left the public service to which they had devoted their lives and careers," the ex-directors pointed out. "That's on top of the approximately 250 NWS employees who were fired as a result of their probationary status in new—often higher-level positions—or took the initial buyout offered by the Trump administration in early February."
"That leaves the nation's official weather forecasting entity at a significant deficit—down more than 10% of its staffing—just as we head into the busiest time for severe storm predictions like tornadoes and hurricanes," they continued. "Our worst nightmare is that weather forecast offices will be so understaffed that there will be needless loss of life. We know that's a nightmare shared by those on the forecasting frontlines—and by the people who depend on their efforts."
Discussing recent job reductions with The Associated Press on Monday, Uccellini, whose tenure leading NWS included Trump's first term, warned that "this situation is getting to the point where something could break."
"The people are being tired out, working through the night and then being there during the day because the next shift is short-staffed," he said. "Anything like that could create a situation in which important elements of forecasts and warnings are missed."
For the flooding in Texas, the NWS Austin-San Antonio office had five meteorologists working, rather than two, as part of its "surge staffing" protocol.
However, Tom Fahy, the legislative director for the NWS Employees Organization, a union that represents government workers, also told NBC News that the agency's Austin-San Antonio office does not have a permanent science officer, who conducts training for and implements new technology, or a warning coordination meteorologist, who has contact with media.
That office "is operating with 11 staff meteorologists and is down six employees from its typical full staffing level of 26," NBC reported. The nearby San Angelo office "is short four staff members from its usual staffing level of 23. The meteorologist-in-charge position—the office's top leadership position—is not permanently filled. The office is also without a senior hydrologist."
Despite some open positions at the two offices, the NWS began warning of potential flooding as early as Thursday morning, and as conditions worsened overnight, the agency issued its first warning for "life-threatening flash flooding" for parts of Kerr County at 1:14 am Central Time Friday, according to CNN.
"But questions remain about how many people they reached, whether critical vacancies at the forecast offices could have affected warning dissemination, and if so-called warning fatigue had been growing among residents in a region described as one of the most dangerous in the country for flash flooding," the network noted.
As Fahy put it to Politico: "The crux of this disaster is a failure of the last mile of communication... The forecasts went out, they communicated the forecasts, they disseminated the watches and warnings. And the dilemma we have is there was nobody listening at 4 o'clock in the morning for these watches and warnings."
Wisconsin-based meteorologist Chris Vagasky similarly told NBC that "the forecasting was good. The warnings were good. It's always about getting people to receive the message... It appears that is one of the biggest contributors—that last mile."
As The New York Times reported:
In an interview, Rob Kelly, the Kerr County judge and its most senior elected official, said the county did not have a warning system because such systems are expensive, and local residents are resistant to new spending.
"Taxpayers won't pay for it," Mr. Kelly said. Asked if people might reconsider in light of the catastrophe, he said, "I don't know."
As of Monday evening, 104 people are confirmed dead, most of them in Kerr County, which includes Camp Mystic, a Christian all-girls summer camp that lost at least 27 campers and counselors. The AP reported that "search-and-rescue teams carried on with the search for the dead, using heavy equipment to untangle trees and wading into swollen rivers. Volunteers covered in mud sorted through chunks of debris, piece by piece, in an increasingly bleak task."
In a statement to multiple news outlets, the NWS provided a detailed timeline of its alerts. The agency also said that it "is heartbroken by the tragic loss of life in Kerr County" and "remains committed to our mission to serve the American public through our forecasts and decision support services."
U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Monday sent a letter to Roderick Anderson, acting inspector general at the Department of Commerce, urging an investigation into "the scope, breadth, and ramifications of whether staffing shortages at key local National Weather Service... stations contributed to the catastrophic loss of life and property during the deadly flooding."
"The roles left unfilled are not marginal, they're critical," he emphasized. "These are the experts responsible for modeling storm impacts, monitoring rising water levels, issuing flood warnings, and coordinating directly with local emergency managers about when to warn the public and issue evacuation orders. To put it plainly: They help save lives."
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt lashed out at him and reporters for such scrutiny on Monday, saying that "unfortunately, in the wake of this once-in-a-generation natural disaster, we have seen many falsehoods pushed by Democrats such as Sen. Chuck Schumer and some members of the media. Blaming President Trump for these floods is a depraved lie, and it serves no purpose during this time of national mourning."
In addition to the president's so-called Department of Government Efficiency—previously led by billionaire Elon Musk, the richest person on Earth—pushing layoffs and retirements, Trump's administration is working to boost fossil fuels that drive the global climate emergency.
As Common Dreams reported earlier Monday, a study published by ClimaMeter found that the floods in Texas were caused by "very exceptional meteorological conditions" that cannot be explained merely by natural variability.
Former Common Dreams staff writer Kenny Stancil is a senior researcher at the Revolving Door Project, which has documented "Trump's attacks on disaster preparedness and response."
"The deadly Texas floods will not be the last manifestation of extreme weather turbocharged by fossil fuel pollution," Stancil wrote in a Monday blog post. "In an era of escalating climate threats, we need a stronger public sector with more resources to mitigate risks, help people weather storms, and adapt to the future."
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'Holding The Line': Municipal Workers' Strike Enters Second Week as Philly Refuses to Pay Living Wage
"We got people that work and repair the water mains and can't afford their water bill," said union leader Greg Boulware last week. "I don't want to be rich. We just want comfort inside the city that we serve daily."
Jul 07, 2025
Philadelphia's largest municipal workers' strike in over 40 years is entering its second week after negotiations with the city broke down this weekend.
Over 9,000 sanitation workers, 911 dispatchers, water services workers, crossing guards, and other city employees walked off the job last week, demanding that the city increase their salary enough to meet the rising cost of living.
But even with trash piling up on the streets and other city services understaffed, Mayor Cherelle Parker (D) would not agree to the demands made by AFSCME District Council 33, Philadelphia's largest blue-collar union.
Parker has offered a pay increase of 8.75% over the next three years, which she described as historic.
But DC 33 president Greg Boulware said that's far too little for municipal workers, many of whom are among the city's "working poor," to survive.
"It's not like as if our members are making $80,000, $90,000 a year," Boulware said. "A 2% increase on those would be significantly higher than it would be on somebody making $40,000-$45,000 a year. So, her math truly is not mathing, and you're clearly not paying attention to the working people that are going on in this city."
The average municipal worker in Philadelphia makes around $46,000, which is $15,000 less than the median income in the city and less than half of what a single adult needs to live comfortably, according to a study by SmartAsset.
"We got people that work and repair the water mains and can't afford their water bill," Boulware said at a rally last week. "We got people that repair the runways at the airport and can't afford a plane ticket. I don't want to be rich. We just want a comfort inside the city that we serve daily."
The union initially asked for an 8% raise for the next four years, which the city dismissed. This weekend, they pared their proposal down to 5%, but the city still did not budge.
Parker has insisted that her smaller proposed increases are merely what is "fiscally responsible," and that the city cannot afford to offer more.
The union has disputed this, pointing out that Parker herself is budgeted to receive a 9% increase to her salary of more than $240,000. That increase alone is nearly half the current salary that the average DC 33 member makes in a year.
As of Monday, negotiations have stalled, with no clear end in sight. With a throng of picketers behind him, Boulware told NBC 10, a local affiliate, that the union was working on a third proposal, and that negotiations may resume Tuesday. But he seemed to expect more obstinacy from the city.
"We've been there to be able to sit and meet and negotiate," he said. "It doesn't seem like the city quite honestly wants to entertain any of the questions that we have about things and actually have a true dialogue... That's how you negotiate and that's not truly what's been going on."
Despite the city's refusal to budge, momentum around the strike has continued to grow. On Friday, rapper LL Cool J dropped out of a 4th of July festival in the city, saying, "There is absolutely no way I can perform across a picket line."
Other AFSCME councils around Pennsylvania have joined pickets in solidarity. This includes Philadelphia's Council 47, which represents thousands of "white collar" city workers.
With mounds of trash accumulating on streets, sometimes becoming as "tall as people," the environmental activists with the Sunrise Movement have also joined in the effort to pressure the city. On Monday, activists hauled bags of trash into the lobby of City Hall, labeled with the words "Meet DC 33 Demands" written in yellow tape.
AFSCME, meanwhile, has stated its resolve to fight on as the strike has gained national attention.
"City workers are holding the line until they get a FAIR contract with the wages and benefits they deserve," the national union's account wrote on X Monday. "One day longer, one day stronger, no matter what it takes."
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