A new court filing by civil rights lawyers claims the New York City Police Department’s focus on Muslims has renewed the political surveillance of the 1960s and ’70s that was banned under a landmark legal ruling. They are seeking an injunction against further surveillance of Muslims without evidence of crimes and a new court-appointed auditor to oversee NYPD activities.
Describing continuing surveillance of Muslims as "widespread and intense," the civil rights lawyers complained that the NYPD has monitored public places where Muslims eat, shop and worship, and has kept records and notes about police observations despite any evidence of unlawful or terror-related activities. The lawyers said the NYPD’s actions violate rules, known as the Handschu guidelines, that a court had imposed as part of a 1985 landmark settlement with the NYPD to a lawsuit they filed.
