Freedom of information: Federal judge orders release of records of spying on Nor Cal Muslims

A federal judge rejected the FBI’s contention that they could withhold information about their surveillance program targeting the Northern California Muslim community. The judge ruled they could not use a “law enforcement exemption” to retain information in a Freedom of Information Act request. (ACLU of Northern California, March 23, 2015, by Julia Harumi Mass and Nasrina Bargzie)

After the FOIA request by the American Civil Liberties Union, the Asian Law Caucus and the San Francisco Bay Guardian in 2010, the FBI released thousands of documents but withheld or redacted others under the exemption. Those requesting the documents were trying to find out if the FBI were spying without any evidence of criminal activity. (San Francisco Chronicle, March 25, 2015, by Bob Egelko)

The judge wrote that in claiming the exemption, the FBI failed to “establish a rational nexus between the enforcement of a federal law and the documents for which it claims Exemption 7 [law enforcement] applies.” (Courthouse News Service, March 25, 2015, by Elizabeth Warmerdam)