October 24, 2013
Jocelyn Samuels
Acting Assistant Attorney General
United States Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Office of the Assistant Attorney General, Main
Washington, D.C. 20530
Jonathan M. Smith
Chief, Special Litigation Section
United States Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. Special Litigation Section
Washington, D.C. 20530
Dear Acting Assistant Attorney General Samuels and Section Chief Smith:
The undersigned civil rights, faith, community, and advocacy groups request that the Civil
Rights Division of the Department of Justice commence a prompt investigation under 42 U.S.C. § 14141 into the New York City Police Department’s (“NYPD”) discriminatory surveillance of American Muslim communities.
As shown by the NYPD’s own documents, for over a decade, the Department has engaged in unlawful religious profiling and suspicionless surveillance of Muslims in New York City (and beyond). This surveillance is based on the false and unconstitutional premise, reflected in the NYPD’s published “radicalization” theory, that Muslim religious belief, practices, and community engagement are grounds for law enforcement scrutiny. That is a premise rooted in ignorance and bias: it is wrong and unfairly stigmatizes Muslims, who are a law-abiding, diverse, and integral part of our nation and New York City. Unsurprisingly, the NYPD’s surveillance program has had far-reaching, deeply negative effects on Muslims’ constitutional rights by chilling speech and religious practice and harming religious goals and missions. It has frayed the social fabric of Muslim communities by breeding anxiety, distrust, and fear. The NYPD’s biased
policing practices hurt not only Muslims, but all communities who rightfully expect that law enforcement will serve and protect America’s diverse population equally, without discrimination.
Under the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 § 210401, the United States Attorney General is authorized to conduct investigations concerning “a pattern or practice of conduct by law enforcement officers . . . that deprives persons of rights, privileges, or immunities secured or protected by the Constitution or laws of the United States.” 42 U.S.C. § 14141(a). Where there is reasonable cause to believe that such a pattern or practice has occurred, the Attorney General may pursue equitable and declaratory relief in a civil action. Id. § 14141(b).1
A Department of Justice investigation is warranted here: the attached appendix details the NYPD’s unlawful policies and practices and their resulting harms to Muslims.
We respectfully request that the Civil Rights Division promptly investigate the NYPD’s
unconstitutional program of religious profiling and suspicionless surveillance of Muslims.
Sincerely,
National Organizations
Advocacy for Justice and Peace Committee of the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia
American Civil Liberties Union
American Humanist Association
American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC)
Americans United for Separation of Church and State
Arab American Institute
Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund
Asian Americans Advancing Justice – AAJC
Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Asian Law Caucus
Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Los Angeles
Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty
Bill of Rights Defense Committee
Blacks in Law Enforcement of America
Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR)
Center for Inquiry
Center for National Security Studies
Center for New Community
Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR)
Defending Dissent Foundation
Foundation for Ethnic Understanding
Franciscan Action Network
Groundswell, Auburn Seminary
Hindu American Foundation
Hmong National Development, Inc.
Interfaith Alliance
International Center for Advocates Against Discrimination (ICAAD)
Justice Strategies
KARAMAH: Muslim Women Lawyers for Human Rights
Muslim Advocates
Muslim Alliance of North America (MANA)
Muslim Public Affairs Council
NAACP
National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum (NAPAWF)
National Council of Jewish Women
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
National Immigration Project
National Network for Arab American Communities (NNAAC)
National Religious Campaign Against Torture
New Evangelical Partnership for the Common Good
People For the American Way Foundation
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
Public Policy Advocacy Network of the Synod of the Northeast (Presbyterian Church USA)
Rights Working Group
Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF)
South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT)
The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights
The Sikh Coalition
T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights
United Church of Christ – Justice and Witness Ministries
United Methodist Church, General Board of Church and Society
USPAK Foundation
State Organizations
A Better Way Foundation
American Center for Outreach
American Muslim Advisory Council (AMACTN)
Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services (ACCESS)
Arkansas Interfaith Alliance
Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Chicago
Asian Pacific American Affairs Commission
CAIR – Michigan Chapter
CAIR-CT
Center for Intercultural Organizing
Civic Trust Public Lobbying Company
Council on American Islamic Relations-Texas, Dallas Fort Worth
Council on American-Islamic Relations in New Jersey
Council on American-Islamic Relations of Washington State (CAIR-WA)
Georgia Association of Muslim Lawyers
Interfaith Action for Human Rights
Muslim Bar Association of New York
New England Muslim Bar Association
New England Synod – ELCA
New Jersey Muslim Lawyers Association
New York Civil Liberties Union
New York Immigration Coalition
North Carolina Justice Center
Raksha, Inc
South Asian Bar Association of Arizona
Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition
The Council on American Islamic Relations of New York (CAIR-NY)
VOCAL New York
Local Organizations
Access California Services
Adhikaar
Arab American Action Network (AAAN)
Arab American Association of New York
Arab Muslim American Federation – New York
ASHA for Women
Asian Law Alliance
Asian Pacific Community in Action
CAAAV Organizing Asian Communities
Capital Area Muslim Bar Association
Committee Against Anti-Asian Violence (CAAAV Organizing Asian Communities)
Communities United for Police Reform (CPR)
Creating Law Enforcement Accountability & Responsibility Project
DRUM – Desis Rising Up & Moving
FIERCE
Interfaith Alliance, Long Island Chapter
Interfaith Center of New York
Interfaith Communities United for Justice and Peace
Islamic Leadership Council of Metropolitan New York
Jewish Voice for Peace – New York City Chapter
Jews Against Islamophobia Coalition
Jews for Racial & Economic Justice
Jews Say No!
Justice Committee
JVP-Westchester
Metropolitan New York Synod
Mosque of Islamic Brotherhood (MIB)
Muslim American Civil Liberties Coalition (MACLC)
Muslim Bar Association of Chicago
Muslim Bar Association of Southern California
Muslim Consultative Network
New York City Anti-Violence Project
New York Harm Reduction Educators (NYHRE)
One America
South Asian Bar Association of Northern California
The Arab American Family Support Center
The Interfaith Alliance – Long Island Chapter
The Interfaith Alliance of Rochester
The Legal Aid Society
The Public Science Project
Tulsa Interfaith Alliance
Turning Point for Women and Families
VOCAL-NY
Westchester Coalition Against Islamophobia
Westchester Martin Luther King, Jr. Institute for Nonviolence
Women In Islam, Inc.
See the full text of the letter, including citations, here: Letter to the DOJ requesting investigation into NYPD’s discriminatory surveillance program targeting American Muslim Communities [PDF link]