Police Documents Released by NYCLU Show Broad Surveillance of Peaceful Political Activity Before RNC

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: media@aclu.org

NEW YORK – The New York Civil Liberties Union today released approximately 600 pages of NYPD intelligence documents that detail a major and often unlawful NYPD political surveillance operation of political activity preceding the 2004 Republican National Convention.

“These documents paint a picture of a surveillance program that was broad, clumsy, and often unlawful,” said Donna Lieberman, NYCLU Executive Director. “The NYPD failed to differentiate between unlawful behavior and behavior that is not only lawful but should in fact be cherished and protected. Today the public can finally bear witness to that failure.”

The NYCLU released the documents after New York City abandoned an effort to keep them secret in the face of a May 4 ruling by federal Judge James Francis IV that the documents should not be kept under wraps. The documents released today, and Judge Francis’s decision of last week, are available online at www.nyclu.org/rncdocs

The NYCLU, which obtained the documents as part of lawsuits it filed against the NYPD for actions during the convention, had filed a challenge to the city’s claim that the documents had to be kept confidential. Lawyers for the city informed the judge and the NYCLU last night that the city would not appeal Judge Francis’s ruling.

The documents show that NYPD officers infiltrated political meetings and monitored listservs for years before the Republican National Convention, often recording information about activity that was completely peaceful and lawful.

Lawyers who worked to challenge the city’s secrecy claims include NYCLU Associate Legal Director Christopher Dunn and NYCLU staff attorney Palyn Hung.

Now that the documents are public they will also be subject to close scrutiny by the attorneys on the long-standing federal case Handschu v. Special Services Division. That case has resulted in a series of court orders regulating police surveillance of political demonstrations and activities.