(LOS ANGELES, CA – 12/20/2024) – The Greater Los Angeles Area office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-LA), the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Southern California, the Center for Immigration Law and Policy at UCLA School of Law, and the law firm of Hadsell Stormer Renick & Dai LLP today welcomed the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals’ ruling in favor of plaintiffs Sheikh Yassir Fazaga, Ali Malik, and Yasser AbdelRahim, reversing an earlier dismissal of their case to hold the FBI accountable for violating their religious freedoms.
SEE:
· UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
· What You Need to Know About CAIR-LA’s First Ever Supreme Court Case
This Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals’ ruling means the case will now move forward and the plaintiffs will have their day in court, nearly 20 years later.
FBI v. Fazaga began in February 2011, after the public learned from a government informant that the FBI was surreptitiously surveilling mosques in Orange County under a secret government operation in 2006 and 2007. Based on sworn statements by the informant, the operation was designed to collect information about Muslims who attended mosques in the region, regardless of any suspicion of wrongdoing.
After Sh. Fazaga, Malik and AbdelRahim filed suit, the government moved to dismiss the case by asserting the “state-secrets” privilege, arguing that merely defending the case in court would threaten the disclosure of information sensitive to our national security. The district court agreed and dismissed most of the lawsuit on that basis. Former ACLU SoCal senior counsel Peter Bibring argued on behalf of the plaintiffs before the Ninth Circuit Court in June 2023.
In a statement, plaintiff and former imam of the Orange County Islamic Foundation Sheikh Yassir Fazaga said:
“Nearly two decades ago, the FBI sent an informant to Orange County to surveil and harass our sacred community. Ali, Yasser and I decided to fight back, and after today’s ruling, we will have the courthouse doors finally opened to us. We and the thousands of Muslims whom the FBI targeted simply for praying in mosques deserve justice.”
In a statement, CAIR-LA Civil Rights Managing Attorney Dina Chehata, Esq., said:
“This ruling is a powerful reminder that the government cannot simply hide behind state secrets to avoid accountability for unconstitutional surveillance. No government agency is above the law, and targeting individuals for their faith has no place in our democracy.”
In a statement, ACLU SoCal Senior Staff Attorney Mohammad Tajsar said:
“Today, the Ninth Circuit said that the government does not get a free pass out of wrongdoing simply by shouting ‘national security.’ Today’s victory ensures our clients will get their day in court.”
In a statement, UCLA’s Center for Immigration Law and Policy at UCLA School of Law Faculty Co-Director Ahilan Arulanantham said:
“Today’s ruling establishes important protections against abuse by the government. Finally, nearly twenty years after the government spied on our clients because of their religion, we can look forward to vindicating their constitutional rights in court.”
CAIR-LA is Southern California’s largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, protect civil rights, promote justice and empower American Muslims.
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CONTACT: CAIR-LA Digital Communications Manager Enjy El-Kadi, (714) 851-4851 or eelkadi@cair.com; ACLU SoCal Communications and Media Advocacy, (213) 977-5252 or communications@aclusocal.org