Opinion ID: 3066758
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Reports and Informational Databases

Text: Plaintiffs allege that the Program has resulted in “a series of reports documenting in detail the information obtained from [the NYPD’s] surveillance of New Jersey Muslim communities.” Id. ¶ 5. These “includ[e] a report focusing on the Muslim community in Newark” (the “Newark report”), id.; “more than twenty precinct-level maps of the City of Newark, noting the location of mosques and Muslim businesses and the ethnic composition of the Muslim community,” id. ¶ 3; “analytical report[s] on every mosque within 100 miles” of New York City, id. ¶ 47; and a weekly “MSA Report on schools, including reports on Rutgers New Brunswick and Rutgers Newark,” id. ¶ 51. The information and records collected and compiled are extensive and varied. Among these are “pictures, . . . video, . . . and license plate numbers of [mosque] congregants,” id. ¶ 46; intelligence about “where religious schools are located,” id. ¶ 47; indications of religious affiliation and Muslim patronage of shops, restaurants, and grocery stores, id.; lists of “businesses owned or frequented by Muslims,” id.; and “names of professors, scholars, and students” affiliated with MSAs, id. ¶ 51. The City also allegedly “compiles databases of new Muslim converts who take Arabic names, as well as Muslims who 13 take names that are perceived to be ‘Western.’” Id. ¶ 55. Besides names and other identifying information of individuals, businesses, and organizations, the NYPD reports include seemingly mundane and innocuous details about Muslim community life in New Jersey, such as: (1) “flyers are posted in shops advertising for Quran tutoring;” (2) “a picture of a mosque hangs in a grocery store;” (3) “a restaurant serves ‘religious Muslims;’” (4) “customers visit a Dunkin’ Donuts after Friday prayer;” (5) “a restaurant is located near a particular mosque;” (6) “employees or customers of establishments are observed wearing ‘traditional clothing;’” (7) “Muslim prayer mats are hanging on the wall at an Indian restaurant;” and (8) “a store posts a sign that it will be closed on Friday in observance of Friday prayer.” Id. ¶ 47. Finally, NYPD officers have compiled “the subject[s and details] of conversations overheard at mosques.” Id. In one 2006 report, for instance, they “document[ed] twentythree conversations at twenty mosques,” though “[n]one of the information collected showed any indication of criminal activity.” Id.