Judge Orders Release of Reports on ’04 Surveillance (NY)

[cal04]

Source: NYTimes

A federal judge yesterday rejected New York City’s efforts to prevent the release of nearly 2,000 pages of raw intelligence reports and other documents detailing the Police Department’s covert surveillance of protest groups and individual activists before the Republican National Convention in 2004.

In a 20-page ruling, Magistrate Judge James C. Francis IV ordered the disclosure of hundreds of field intelligence reports by undercover investigators who compiled dossiers on protest groups in a huge operation that the police said was needed to head off violence and disruptions at the convention.

But at the behest of the city and with the concurrence of civil liberties lawyers representing plaintiffs who were swept up in mass arrests during the convention, the judge agreed to the deletion of sensitive information in the documents to protect the identities of undercover officers and confidential informants and to safeguard police investigative methods and the privacy of individuals caught up in investigations.

The city had largely based its contention for nondisclosure on the need to protect those identities and methods, and had also argued against disclosure because the public might misinterpret the documents or the news media sensationalize them.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/07/nyregion/07police.html?hp

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. Send this to the Minneapolis lawyers

who are already meeting to plan strategy to represent protesters pro bono at the GOP convention.

[williesgirl]

2. k&r - thank God for some judges with brains and courage.

[thunder rising]

3. Rules to protest and organize by

At a protest remember you are on "Double Secret Probation" Do not engage in any conversation that can be construed as inciting violence. Watch your words for they will be taken out of context and held against you.

Assume that the group you are with has been infiltrated. If one person tries to get you heated up and discussing "extra legal" means of protest STFU.

At meetings in private houses state something to the following: "If there is any person in this house that is representing the US Government, the Republican party, or any organization that would gather information about this meeting for external purposes, you are not welcome. You are to state your business or leave. Not vacating the my house and property constitutes trespass. You will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law for trespass and other Constitutional crimes."
(I stated this at my MoveOn call parties ... I apologized that such a statement was necessary, but I felt it need to be said to protect the participants)
Remember, it is still private property and they cannot spy on your group without a warrant that is served to you. You will have x number of witnesses that heard you tell them to leave and they did not.

I'm thinking that if every organization did this, there would be grounds for prosecution and damages. A lease or rental on a property affords the same protection. Open meetings in libraries don't get the protection.

[robinlynne]

4. sounds like good advice.

[orleans]

5. good thinking. i like that idea. n/t

[ThomCat]

11. Thank you for posting that!

Especially that part about officially asking any infiltrators to leave. I doubt any infiltrators would actually get up and leave, and I'm sure they'd still build their illegal files. But if shit like this keeps making it to court then it might help get some people convicted at some point.

[Ben Masel]

16. Undercovers are allowed to lie.

The prisons are full of folks who thought narcotics officers have to admit it when asked directly.

[Patsy Stone]

6. Excellent! n/t

[progressoid]

7. k&r

[burrowowl]

8. K&R!

A GOOD JUDGE!

[berni_mccoy]

9. Ashamed of the DAMN TRUTH = "public might misinterpret the documents or the news media..."

[Judi Lynn]

13. Hope THEY misinterpreted, themselves, when they assumed there would be no reprisals. n/t

[me b zola]

10. k&r

[ThomCat]

12. They just want to hid the fact that they totally disregarded

everyone's civil rights and they damned well know it! x(

[L. Coyote]

17. and avoid paying millions in damages for abuse of constitutional rights

[rodeodance]

14. City Is Rebuffed on the Release of ’04 Records (RNC & protest groups)

Source: nytimes




August 7, 2007
City Is Rebuffed on the Release of ’04 Records
By ROBERT D. McFADDEN

A federal judge yesterday rejected New York City’s efforts to prevent the release of nearly 2,000 pages of raw intelligence reports and other documents detailing the Police Department’s covert surveillance of protest groups and individual activists before the Republican National Convention in 2004.

In a 20-page ruling, Magistrate Judge James C. Francis IV ordered the disclosure of hundreds of field intelligence reports by undercover investigators who infiltrated and compiled dossiers on protest groups in a huge operation that the police said was needed to head off violence and disruptions at the convention.

But at the behest of the city and with the concurrence of civil liberties lawyers representing plaintiffs swept up in mass arrests during the convention, the judge agreed to the deletion of sensitive information in the documents to protect the identities of undercover officers and confidential informants and to safeguard police investigative methods and the privacy of individuals caught up in investigations.

The city had largely based its bid for nondisclosure on the need to protect those identities and methods, and argued that the public might misinterpret the documents or the news media sensationalize them. But the civil liberties lawyers insisted that the documents — even without the sensitive materials — were needed to show in court that the police had overstepped legal boundaries in arresting, detaining and fingerprinting hundreds of people instead of handing out summonses for minor offenses.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/07/nyregion/07police.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin

---

Gawd, what a nonsense Headline!

[B3Nut]

15. The City of New York needs to pay dearly.

There was *no* excuse for what took place, NONE of the participating officers is worthy of their badge. They probably will never be fired, which is a grave tragedy. The people detained need to sue the ever loving daylights out of NYC.

What country is this again? I can't find America anymore, I have no clue where she went.

Todd in Cheesecurdistan

[Doctor_J]

18. SCOTUS will overturn this

Scalito and Roberts will protect the 4th Reich from the truth. THat's one of the big reasons they were installed.