New Jersey Muslims meet with NYPD after landmark surveillance lawsuit

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Following a landmark lawsuit over the New York City Police Department’s (NYPD) blanket, discriminatory surveillance of New Jersey Muslims, Hassan v. City of New York, plaintiffs and members of the New Jersey Muslim community met face-to-face with senior City and NYPD officials on Monday to detail the harm caused to Muslim communities in New Jersey by the NYPD’s surveillance program and to demand accountability.

In 2011, Pulitzer Prize-winning AP reporting revealed that the NYPD was spying on Muslims at New York and New Jersey mosques, restaurants, schools, and university student associations simply because of their faith. The NYPD’s monitoring activities included video surveillance, photographing license plates, “community mapping,” and infiltration by undercover officers.

“Hassan v. NYPD proved once and for all that active participation by the citizenry is necessary to hold those in power accountable,” said Farhaj Hassan. “The value of 'equal justice for all' holds America together. That is a value American Muslims will always defend.”

Read our press release on our website.

Join us in The Hague via livestream for ICC appeals hearing on U.S. torture accountability

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This week, an historic, three-day hearing will be held at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, at which the five-judge Appeals Chamber will hear argument on why the ICC should open an investigation into crimes arising out of the armed conflict in Afghanistan, including U.S. torture. 

As part of its long-standing work to seek redress for victims of Bush-era “war on terror” crimes and to hold accountable senior U.S. officials and CIA contractors who designed, implemented, and covered up the “torture program,” Center for Constitutional Rights Senior Staff Attorney Katherine Gallagher represents two victims in the ICC proceedings, Sharqawi Al Hajj and Guled Duran, both of whom remain detained at Guantánamo without charge. She will be arguing that the ICC is the appropriate venue for the U.S. torture program due to the widespread nature of the crimes, the gravity of the harm done, and the unwillingness of the United States to investigate and prosecute the civilian and military leadership responsible for these serious violations. 

Donald Trump’s recent pardons — along with his prior appointment of Gina Haspel, who ran a CIA “blacksite,” as CIA Director — only support why it is necessary for the ICC to investigate.

To learn more about this precedent-setting moment, and to read the briefs, including eight recently filed amicus briefs, visit our case page. To watch the hearings live-streamed from the ICC court-room December 4 to 6, visit the ICC page.

Testimony on body-worn cameras before NYC council

On November 18, 2019, Center for Constitutional Rights Senior Legal Worker Ian Head testified before the Public Safety Committee of the New York City Council.

In his testimony, Head drew the Committee on Public Safety's attention to the importance of community input into current policies regarding the NYPD's implementation of body-worn cameras.

Read the testimony on our website.