ACLU sues over Muslim interviews

The American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California sued the U.S. Justice Department and FBI on Thursday, seeking a court order forcing the release of documents related to the questioning and monitoring of Arab and Muslim citizens. The ACLU had filed a written request for these documents under the Freedom of Information Act in August, after hearing that people throughout Northern California had been interviewed or interrogated by the FBI for no apparent reason other than that they were Muslims or of Middle Eastern descent. The lawsuit filed Thursday claims that while the Justice Department's Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys granted their request for fast processing of prosecutors' documents, the FBI refused to do so. The ACLU now wants a court order forcing the FBI to process the document request immediately and release the information. Among the information the ACLU seeks are any written policies the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Forces have on controlling the maintenance, use and destruction of sensitive religious, political and personal information gathered in such interviews; ensuring the JTTFs adhere to California's tighter civil rights protections; and ensuring religious practice or political dissent aren't by themselves appropriate subjects for investigation. "It's time for the FBI to come clean about this unprecedented campaign and the activities of their JTTFs in our state," ACLU attorney John Crew said in a news release.  [more ]