PROPOSED REVISIONS TO HANDSCHU SETTLEMENT ON MUSLIM SURVEILLANCE FILED – RESPONSE TO JUDGE’S SUGGESTIONS IN OCTOBER
Counsel for the Handschu class filed proposed revisions reached with the New York City Police Department, responding to concerns of a federal court judge who reviewed a January 2016 settlement of a Handschu case enforcement motion. The enforcement motion was made in response to disclosures by the Associated Press that the NYPD conducted a Muslim Surveillance program, and sought remedies to address violations of the Handschu decree. (The settlement was part of a “joint settlement process” with plaintiffs in Raza v. City of New York, filed by members of the Muslim community in June 2013 concerning the NYPD Muslim Surveillance Program.)
The January 2016 settlement strengthened the “Modified Handschu Guidelines”, adopted when the federal court relaxed a longstanding decree in 2003 following the 9/11 attack at the World Trade Center. On October 28, 2016, U.S. District Court Judge Charles S. Haight rejected the settlement, indicating he would approve it if the NYPD agreed to strengthen certain oversight provisions of the settlement.
New York Times article on the filing:
The March 6, 2017 filing:
The U.S. District Court’s October 28, 2016 opinion:
The Associated Press on the NYPD Muslim Surveillance Program:
Barbara Handschu, one of the class plaintiffs, is a longtime social justice lawyer who was active in the criminal defense of the Attica Brothers, and is a past national Vice President of the NLG. Three of five counsel to the Handschu class are former NYC-NLG chapter presidents, Martin Stolar, Jethro Eisenstein and Franklin Siegel. Class counsel also include NYU Law professor Paul Chevigny and NYCLU Legal Director Arthur Eisenberg.