In a ruling that straddles the intersection of the public’s right to know and counterterrorism secrecy, New York’s highest court on Thursday decided that the New York City Police Department can legally evade questions about whether it has records relating to the surveillance of Muslim groups.

In a 4-3 decision, the majority court ruled that the NYPD was within its rights to use the so-called Glomar response when it received Freedom of Information Law requests from two Islamic men in 2012 who wanted records tied to any police surveillance of them or their mosque or student association.