Judge says NY surveillance data can be made public

Daniel Trotta

Six hundred pages of documents relating to intelligence that New York City gathered before the 2004 Republican National Convention should be made public, a federal judge ruled on Friday.

Judge James Francis of U.S. District Court in Manhattan struck down the city’s attempt to keep the documents confidential, but agreed to keep them sealed pending a possible city appeal.

The New York Civil Liberties Union and The New York Times had petitioned the judge to make the documents public.

The city had argued their publication could influence potential jurors in a larger case, yet to go trial, in which about 90 protesters who were arrested at the convention are suing the city alleging their rights were violated through mass arrests, prolonged detentions and blanket fingerprinting.

More than 1,800 demonstrators were arrested over eight days in August and September of 2004 as the Republican Party met in New York to nominate President George W. Bush as its candidate in the presidential election.

“Notably, the city does not contend that these documents must be kept confidential because of security concerns or because public disclosures would jeopardize legitimate law enforcement interests,” the judge wrote in 14-page ruling.

Lawyers for the city and the plaintiffs — the New York Civil Liberties Union — agreed not to release the documents at least until the city decides whether to appeal.

The New York Times reported the records showed that undercover New York police officers posed as sympathizers at meetings of political groups and identified those who had expressed interest in violent action.

The Times also said undercover police spied on people planning protests at the convention, both in the United States and in Europe.

Police say all of their surveillance was legal and approved in advance by a special three-member panel made up of two senior police officers and a representative of the mayor.

The surveillance was carried out by an intelligence branch created after the September 11 attacks to gather information on threats to public safety and reduce the city’s reliance on the federal government.

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