Vol. 80/No. 44      November 21, 2016

 

Judge seeks more political cover for NY cop spying

 
The fig leaf wasn’t big enough. That’s the gist of an Oct. 28 decision by Federal Judge Charles Haight that rejected a proposed settlement of two lawsuits seeking to curtail the New York Police Department’s widespread spying targeting Muslims and mosques.

Raza v. City of New York was filed in 2013 after press reports exposed extensive cop surveillance of Muslim communities for more than a decade. Handschu v. City of New York, which has spawned a series of changing guidelines on police surveillance, began in 1971 after revelations of widespread spying against political organizations by NYPD “Red Squads,” now revamped as the Intelligence Division and Counter-Terrorism Bureau.

Under the tentative settlement of both suits reached in January, a board composed of 11 senior NYPD officials and one civilian lawyer appointed by the mayor would meet monthly to review secret cop operations targeting political and religious groups. This would supposedly ensure they complied with a revised set of rules known as the Handschu Guidelines.

In rejecting the deal, Haight noted that a recent investigation revealed “a systemic inclination on the part of the Intelligence Bureau to disregard the Guidelines’ mandates.” He also said the “proposed role and powers of the civilian representative” weren’t strong enough.

At the same time, the judge rejected arguments that broad surveillance of Muslim communities is unconstitutional, stating, “NYPD investigations are legal if they comply with the Handschu Guidelines.” Haight instructed lawyers from both sides to work out a new deal.

Based on the record, Judge Haight’s bar for protecting constitutional rights isn’t very high.

In 1985 Haight signed off on the original settlement in Handschu, establishing rules the cops were to follow for spying on and infiltrating political groups. The Socialist Workers Party was among the groups who had been spied on by the cops and fought against the settlement, which legitimized previously illegal police activity. Others included the National Lawyers Guild, Communist Party, Puerto Rican Socialist Party, National Emergency Civil Liberties Committee, National Conference of Black Lawyers and jailed Black Panther Party member Richard Dhoruba Moore.

In the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Haight agreed to modify the Handschu guidelines to give the cops a freer hand in “counterterrorism.” Even these minimal rules, he acknowledges today, are “routinely violated” by the NYPD.  
 
 
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