July, 11 2014, 04:06pm EDT
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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After Bank Collapses, US Regulators Urged to Impose Rules on Climate-Related Financial Risk
"If management at a wide swath of banks failed to properly address a well-understood risk, they cannot be trusted to independently address other complex emerging risks," argued 50 green groups.
Mar 28, 2023
In the wake of recent bank collapses and protests across the United States demanding financial institutions end fossil fuel financing, 50 climate, environmental justice, and Indigenous rights groups on Tuesday advocated for new regulations.
"We the undersigned strongly urge financial regulators and Congress to learn from the collapse and bailout of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and rapidly implement new regulations to mitigate against climate-related financial risk," the coalition wrote.
"Climate-related risks are moving us toward a financial crisis. But regulators have not taken adequate steps to actually mitigate those risks."
The groups' letter was sent to key leaders at the U.S. Treasury Department, Federal Reserve, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), National Economic Council, and relevant U.S. House and Senate committees.
After explaining how the SVB collapse is partly the result of poor management enabled by regulatory rollbacks under the Trump administration, the letter states that "this is only the latest example of a bank being wholly unprepared for a large and obvious financial risk."
The letter continues:
It is a stark reminder of the chaos that can unfold when a financial institution has high exposure to a risky industry, and of the fact that the leaders of major financial institutions are frequently far more concerned with their short-term gains than with robust risk management measures that ensure their safety and the safety and soundness of the financial system. As a reminder of the latter, senior managers at SVB paid themselves millions in bonuses hours before their bank failed and the federal government financially backstopped it. Here again, stronger rules—including the Dodd-Frank executive compensation rules that remain unfinished—could have incentivized greater bank attention to risks.
To prevent any potential for a cascade of bank runs after SVB's collapse, federal regulators have now effectively set a precedent of guaranteeing all bank deposits in all banking institutions nationwide, to be backstopped by the Federal Deposit Insurance Fund and then taxpayer dollars. Moreover, the Federal Reserve has begun lending at extraordinarily generous terms to any other banks with assets whose real value has been curbed by interest rate hikes—in effect, the Fed is offering a first-of-its-kind, get-out-of-bank-failure-free card to any firms that made the same foreseeable mistake as SVB. Regulators justified this extraordinary shift in the structures of American finance by relying on emergency rules in place to prevent systemic risk to the financial system. In effect, regulators argued that SVB's inability to mitigate one of the most obvious forms of financial risk—the potential for rising interest rates amid high inflation—constituted a grave risk to the whole financial system, and, thereby, the whole economy.
"If management at a wide swath of banks failed to properly address a well-understood risk, they cannot be trusted to independently address other complex emerging risks," the groups argued. "Regulators must intervene to protect the financial system from risks associated with climate change and the ongoing transition to a green economy."
The letter notes recent remarks from Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen about the economic and financial impact of the climate emergency as well as how, as it worsens, "banks of all sizes holding mortgage-backed bonds will see their assets drop in value" while "banks invested in the fossil fuel industry will eventually be saddled with stranded assets."
"Climate-related risks are moving us toward a financial crisis. But regulators have not taken adequate steps to actually mitigate those risks," the coalition warned, calling on U.S. policymakers to:
- Move with urgency and speed to implement proposed guidance for banks and financial institutions related to preparation for climate-related financial risks and to follow up with more detailed guidance;
- Rapidly move forward on rigorous exams for banking institutions, including for medium-sized banks, regardless of industry pressure for light-touch supervision of climate-related risks; and
- Please also see previous coalition letters recommending action on the Federal Reserve's and the Treasury Department's climate guidance.
"Banks cannot be trusted to independently evaluate and protect against the systemic risks of the climate crisis in real-time. They also cannot be trusted to avoid creating risks for other institutions and the financial system through their support for fossil assets and greenhouse gas emissions," the letter says. "This process requires regulators to set clear rules and ensure banks and financial institutions do not engage in unsafe behavior and do not create undue risks and costs for the financial system and the economy."
Signatories include Greenpeace USA, Lakota People's Law Project, Sierra Club, and Third Act—who came together earlier this month for a "Stop Dirty Banks" national day of action, the first elderly-led mass climate demonstration in U.S. history.
"Today is a major drive to take the cash out of carbon," declared Third Act's Bill McKibben. "We want JPMorgan Chase, Citi, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America to hear the voices of the older generation which has the money and structural power to face down their empty, weasel words on climate. We will not go to our graves quietly knowing that the financial institutions in our own communities continue to fund the climate crisis."
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"It has been 100 years since the Equal Rights Amendment was first drafted and introduced in Congress," noted Rep. Cori Bush. "That is far too long... and we refuse to wait any longer."
Mar 28, 2023
A coalition of Democratic U.S. lawmakers led by Reps. Cori Bush and Ayanna Pressley on Tuesday announced the launch of a new caucus aimed at realizing the centurylong goal of adding an Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution.
"It has been 100 years since the Equal Rights Amendment was first drafted and introduced in Congress, and more than a half century since both chambers passed it," Bush (D-Mo.) said in a statement announcing the founding of the Congressional Equal Rights Amendment Caucus. "That is far too long for women, Black and Brown folks, LGBTQ+ people, and other marginalized groups to wait for constitutional gender equality—and we refuse to wait any longer."
Pressley (D-Mass.) said: "I am proud to launch the ERA Caucus with my sister-in-service Congresswoman Bush to affirm the Equal Rights Amendment as the 28th Amendment to the Constitution, establish gender equality as a national priority, and center our most vulnerable and marginalized communities, who stand to benefit the most."
\u201cToday, @AyannaPressley and I are launching the ERA Caucus \u2014 100 years after the Equal Rights Amendment was first introduced in Congress.\n\nWe are joining forces to make sure that equality becomes enshrined in the supreme law of our land.\n\nEquality is overdue.\u201d— Cori Bush (@Cori Bush) 1680030712
Caucus member Rep. Summer Lee (D-Penn.) said that "it's not shocking that when the Constitution was first drafted, women, Black, Brown, queer, and marginalized folks were intentionally written out. What is shocking is that in 2023, our Constitution still does not include equal rights regardless of sex—meaning our Constitution still does not reflect or protect all people."
"To the right-wing politicians and judges waging a full-on assault on the rights of women and queer youth, we're not afraid and we won't be silenced," Lee added. "We're organized and mobilized to make equal rights the law of the land."
After passing the House in 1971 and the Senate the following year, the ERA was submitted to the states for ratification. Congress set a March 1979 deadline for ratification; only 35 of the requisite 38 states approved the proposal by that time. Although the deadline was extended until 1982, no more states ratified the amendment and several state legislatures voted to rescind their ratifications.
\u201cThrilled to join @RepCori and @RepPressley today to found @ERACaucus and fight for gender equality. Women were deliberately left out of the Constitution, but with the #EqualRightsAmendment, we can guarantee equal rights for all people under the law.\u201d— Judy Chu (@Judy Chu) 1680029701
A 21st-century effort to revive the ERA saw Nevada, Illinois, and Virginia approve the measure in recent years. Supporters say 38 states have now backed the ERA, although there is uncertainty over the expired deadlines and rescinded ratifications.
Pressley's office said that in addition to affirming the ERA, the new congressional caucus will "raise awareness in Congress to establish constitutional gender equality as a national priority; partner with an inclusive intergenerational, multiracial coalition of advocates, activists, scholars, organizers, and public figures; and center the people who stand to benefit the most from gender equality, including Black and Brown women, LGBTQ+ people, people seeking abortion care, and other marginalized groups."
\u201cA century after the #EqualRightsAmendment was introduced, we\u2019re still waiting. \n\nAs a Vice Chair on the @DemWomenCaucus, I applaud @RepCori and @RepPressley for launching the @ERACaucus. \n\nLet\u2019s get it done. #ERANow\u201d— Rep. Teresa Leger Fern\u00e1ndez (@Rep. Teresa Leger Fern\u00e1ndez) 1680041462
In a Tuesday interview with The Hill, Pressley said she was "thinking a lot about my 14-year-old daughter, Cora, and how I do not want her to continue to live in a country in a world where we have so conflated and normalized the disparate treatment and outcomes and disparate access and the second-class status it is to be a woman in this society."
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"Whether it's price gouging at the pump or drilling in people's backyards, Big Oil's days of harming our health and our pocketbooks must end," said one advocate.
Mar 28, 2023
Climate and consumer advocates on Tuesday hailed California lawmakers' passage of legislation aimed at tackling Big Oil price gouging as the proposal headed to the desk of Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, who said he will sign the measure into law.
The California Assembly voted 52-19 on Monday in favor of S.B. X1-2—authored by state Sen. Nancy Skinner (D-9)—which will empower the California Energy Commission (CEC) to impose profit caps and penalties on refiners and create an intra-agency watchdog tasked with conducting greater oversight of fossil fuel companies to minimize profiteering.
The new law will allow the CEC to levy daily fines of $5,000-$20,000—up to a maximum of $500,000—if a company does not provide the agency with data to determine if it is complying with the legislation. CEC fines are currently capped at $2,000.
Newsom—who is slated to sign the bill into law at 4:30 pm PT on Tuesday—called Monday "a big day for consumers, a big day for Mother Nature, and a big day in this country."
"I'm very, very pleased as a taxpayer, as a Californian, and as an American," he added. "I hope this is a signal to other states."
The law will take effect 90 days after it's signed by Newsom—who has also called for a windfall profits tax on fossil fuel companies.
"This is a landmark victory for California consumers who will soon have the force of a state watchdog with teeth protecting them from gouging at the gas pump," Consumer Watchdog president Jamie Court said Tuesday.
Kassie Siegel, director of the Center for Biological Diversity's Climate Law Institute, asserted that Monday's vote "shows the tide is turning against Big Oil in California."
"Despite the industry spending millions on lobbying, California is now one step closer to protecting working Californians from the oil industry's greed," Siegel continued. "Whether it's price gouging at the pump or drilling in people's backyards, Big Oil's days of harming our health and our pocketbooks must end."
In a statement, Stop the Oil Profiteering (STOP) spokesperson Jamie Henn said that "California wasn't afraid to stand up to Big Oil. It's time for Washington to follow their lead."
"This landmark legislation will give regulators the tools they need to investigate Big Oil's shady business practices and crack down on the price gouging that fueled last year's obscene profits," Henn added. "The public is clamoring for politicians to take on this reckless industry—it's inspiring to see Gov. Newsom answering the call."
Earlier this month, the watchdog Accountable.US published a report revealing that the biggest oil companies operating in the United States raked in a collective $290 billion in profits last year while they "consistently prioritized shareholder returns over alleviating the pressure of high energy prices."
According to the American Automobile Association, California has the nation's highest gasoline prices, with a gallon of regular unleaded averaging $4.82.
"Five California oil refiners made obscene profits last year from astronomical gasoline prices at the pump, hurting working families up and down the state," Shoshana Wexler of the climate group 350 Bay Area Action said in a statement. "The Legislature has passed a bill that would expose the ways this grand heist was carried out and hopefully ensure it never happens again."
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