CIVIL LIBERTIES, RELIGIOUS GROUPS SEEK TO REQUIRE WARRANTS FOR POLICE GPS SURVEILLANCE - TOP
Washington, DC­ (Feb. 6, 2009) -- A diverse group of civil liberties and religious organizations this week weighed in on the question of whether police need a warrant in order to conduct surveillance of personal vehicles by secretly attaching global positioning satellite (GPS) transmitters. The case, which is scheduled to be heard next month in New York’s highest court, has profound implications for the privacy rights of individuals and organizations.
Low-cost GPS transmitters can be secretly attached to a vehicle and pinpoint the vehicle’s location on public or private property, within a few feet or yards, to virtually any computer with an internet connection. The devices are useful for tracking a vehicle or person in real-time, but the data also can be permanently stored and subjected to pattern analysis, revealing not just a person’s whereabouts, but his habits, associations, who his friends are, where he shops, banks and goes to church, and a host of other information. The coalition argues that court supervision should be required to protect First and Fourth Amendment privacy rights.
In People v. Weaver, scheduled for argument in the New York Court of Appeals March 24, the court will be considering whether a police officer, in his own discretion, may undertake GPS surveillance of individuals without any judicial oversight at all. The court below held that there is no obligation to obtain a warrant prior to undertaking such monitoring. Members of the public have no way of knowing if their movements are subject to electronic surveillance from which there is no legal protection.
The civil liberties alliance filed an amicus curiae, or “friend of the court,” brief arguing such unfettered surveillance is unconstitutional and ill-advised as a matter of public policy. The groups include the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL), the New York State Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the New York State Defenders Association, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), and the Union for Reform Judaism. They urge the court to condition GPS monitoring upon judicial issuance of a warrant.
The brief was written by Susan J. Walsh, a partner at Moskowitz, Book & Walsh, LLP in New York City, NACDL Executive Director Norman L. Reimer and NACDL Assistant Director of Public Affairs & Communications Ivan J. Dominguez.
“By its nature, GPS is a valuable tool because it permits long-term, sustained surveillance. But its potential for abuse is staggering. To allow this kind of personal data collection without judicial oversight is an Orwellian nightmare. The minimal time required to obtain a warrant based on probable cause restores balance and cannot credibly be said to impede legitimate law enforcement objectives,” explains lead counsel Susan J. Walsh.
A dissenting opinion in the case below rejected the analogy that the use of GPS is the functional equivalent of being followed by the police on public roads. Relying upon the search and seizure provisions of New York State’s Constitution, the dissent concluded that “while the citizens of this state may not have a reasonable expectation of privacy in a public place at any particular moment, they do have a reasonable expectation that their every move will not be continuously and indefinitely monitored by a technical device without their knowledge, except where a warrant has been issued based on probable cause.”
According to Norman Reimer, the Executive Director of NACDL, “Permitting unlimited, around-the-clock, uninterrupted 24/7 monitoring of an individual’s whereabouts is as much a First Amendment issue as it is a Fourth Amendment issue.” He points out that “the government can learn where a person worships, what clubs they attend, what political parties they participate in, where they sleep, and other personal and private information completely irrelevant to legitimate law enforcement needs.”
The brief is available on NACDL’s Web site here.
The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers is the preeminent organization advancing the mission of the criminal defense bar to ensure justice and due process for persons accused of crime or wrongdoing. A professional bar association founded in 1958, NACDL’s 12,000-plus direct members in 28 countries and 90 state, provincial and local affiliate organizations totaling more than 40,000 attorneys include private criminal defense lawyers, public defenders, military defense counsel, law professors and judges committed to preserving fairness and promoting a rational and humane criminal justice system.
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CAIR-OK: OKLA. MUSLIM DRIVER TO RE-TAKE LICENSE PHOTO WITH HIJAB - TOP(OKLAHOMA CITY, OK, 2/6/09) - The Oklahoma chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-OK) announced today that a Muslim driver in that state will be allowed to re-take her driver’s license photograph while wearing a religiously-mandated head scarf, or hijab.The Muslim driver was initially told she must expose her hairline and ears for the photograph. Following intervention by CAIR-OK, the director of Oklahoma’s Department of Public Safety (DPS) Driver License Examining Division offered to re-take the photograph with hijab at DPS headquarters and to institute diversity training for staff. Like many other states, Oklahoma has a policy on allowing religious exemptions in driver’s license photographs. According to a 2004 CAIR review, most states, with the exception of Georgia, Kentucky and New Hampshire, have addressed religious accommodation concerns. Five states - Arkansas, Mississippi, Kansas, Missouri, and Maine - recognize some religious practices, while the other 42 states have adopted more inclusive approaches to religious accommodation policies.CAIR, America's largest Muslim civil liberties group, has 35 offices and chapters nationwide and in Canada. Its mission is to enhance understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding.CONTACT: CAIR-OK Executive Director Razi Hashmi, Tel: 405-248-5853, E-Mail: rhashmi@cair.com; CAIR-OK Chairperson Lobna Hewedi, E-Mail: lhewedi@cair.com
----- SPRUILL APOLOGIZES FOR MUSLIM REMARK - TOPTim Craig, Washington Post, 2/5/09
Del. Lionell Spruill (D-Chesapeake) apologized today for saying on the House floor yesterday that he doesn't like to hear prayers of different religions, "especially those of the Muslim faith that I don't care too much about."
Spruill, who is also a member of the Democratic National Committee, issued his apology moments after his employer, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Brian Moran, urged him to do so.
Beside being a delegate and a DNC member, Spruill is a paid consultant for the Moran campaign when the General Assembly is not in session. Moran is paying Spruill $7,500 a month to do outreach in the African-American community, although his salary is suspended during the 45-day legislative session.
During a House floor debate Wednesday, Spruill spoke out against a bill that would allow state police chaplains to use "Jesus" in public prayers. After Spruill's comment about Muslims were reported on in the Virginian Pilot, some Democrats and Ben Tribbett, who runs the Not Larry Sabato blog, sought to link him to Moran. (MORE)
----- CAIR-CA: OAKLAND BANK APOLOGIZES TO MUSLIM WOMAN IT DENIED SERVICE - TOPMatt O'Brien, Contra Costa Times, 2/5/09
A bank has apologized to a Muslim woman denied service in December because she was wearing a hijab, but has also defended its decision.
When Safa Magid went to Community Bank of the Bay to make a deposit, a teller refused to serve her, explaining that the bank's policy prohibiting people from wearing hats included head scarves.
"The woman asked if I could take off my scarf," Magid said Thursday. "And I said, `No, I'm not going to take off my scarf.' Then, she said she couldn't serve me because I'm wearing a scarf."
Magid then tried to explain that she wore the scarf for religious reasons, but that a second bank employee confirmed the "no hat" ban included Magid's scarf.
Magid, who had visited the Broadway bank previously without incident, closed her account. She later sought help from the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
"(The bank) immediately recognized that there was an error, but I think it points to a deeper problem," said Agnes Chong, a Bay Area coordinator for the civil rights organization. The council has called attention to similar bank practices across the country.
The president of the Oakland bank blamed the incident on an "overzealous" employee who was "not exercising good judgment." . . .
Born and raised in Oakland, and having worn a hijab for many years, Magid said she has never before faced discrimination based on her attire.
A second-year resident in an internal medicine program, Magid said she was stunned by the actions of a bank she had specifically chosen for its environmentally friendly business philosophy.
Magid said she appreciated the bank's apology but was not entirely satisfied. (MORE)
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CAIR-CA: OAKLAND BANK ALLEGEDLY DENIED MUSLIM WOMAN SERVICE - TOPCBS5, 2/5/09
An Oakland bank is facing criticism from a national Islamic civil rights group that says the bank denied service to a Muslim woman who was wearing a religious headscarf.
The Community Bank of the Bay, located at 1750 Broadway, allegedly denied service to Safa Magid because of the bank's "no hats" policy, according to a coordinator with the San Francisco Bay Area chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
Magid was wearing a hijab, a type of headscarf, when she entered the bank on Dec. 18 and was told by a bank employee about the policy, which is designed to try to prevent bank robberies, according to Agnes Chong, Civil Rights and Outreach Coordinator with CAIR-SFBA.
Chong said Thursday "it's unfortunate that someone that's merely exercising her rights in the constitution is subject to a policy to prevent bank robberies." (MORE)
----- CATHOLICS, MUSLIMS BEGIN TO VALUE HOW MUCH THEY SHARE ACROSS FAITHS - TOPDennis Sadowski, Catholic News Service, 2/5/09
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- In the days following the Sept. 11 attacks, Dalila Benameur and her Muslim friends in Bridgeview, Ill., were afraid to leave their homes even when their pantries ran low and their refrigerators emptied. The women felt threatened by the handful of intimidating drivers who would cruise past the town's mosque waving Confederate flags and shouting anti-Muslim epithets.
That's when Andreatte Brachman and her friends from St. Fabian Catholic Church stepped in.
Brachman and company offered to accompany the women on errands as a sign of solidarity to alleviate growing concerns that Muslims hated America.
"It served almost as a bond," Brachman said of the outreach to the Muslim women.
Of course, it helped that the St. Fabian women had gotten to know their Muslim neighbors before the attacks as part of the Muslim-Catholic Women's Group that had evolved from the two faith communities several years earlier. (MORE)
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IL: MUSLIM STUDENTS INCREASINGLY FIND CONTENTMENT AT A CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY - TOPMichelle J. Nealy, Diverse Education, 2/4/09
When Zeina Abusoud began as director of residence life at Benedictine University a decade ago, the number of Muslim students attending the Catholic institution in Illinois was scant.
But accommodations in academic policy and an inclusive religious environment have helped transform the university into a popular hub for Muslim college students.
"Benedictine is guided by the Roman Catholic tradition and also Benedictine values," says Abusoud. "St. Benedict's rules emphasize the tradition of respect and hospitality and appreciation for living and working together in a community. These values are universal and make it very comfortable for the Muslim students to be part of the Benedictine community."
Since providing information on religious affiliation is optional for students, there are no official statistics on the exact number of Muslim students attending the university. But based on the number of students who responded to a survey conducted by the university last year, an estimated 13 percent of Benedictine's 3,200 undergraduate students are Muslim. (MORE)