The Greater Los Angeles Area office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-LA) today responded to the U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS)’s decision to vacate a lower court ruling in FBI v. Fazaga and remand the case back to the district court. The organization also welcomed the continued litigation to hold the government accountable for its unlawful surveillance of Muslim communities.
SEE: What You Need to Know About CAIR-CA’s First-Ever Supreme Court Case
FBI v. Fazaga began in February 2011, after it became known that the FBI had hired an informant to go undercover as a Muslim convert in order to surveil mosques and spy on Orange County’s Muslim population as part of a covert government operation in 2006 and 2007.
After plaintiffs Sheikh Yassir Fazaga, Ali Malik, and Yasser 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. In December 2024, the Ninth Circuit Court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, reversing the earlier dismissal of the case and allowing it to move forward.
The SCOTUS’s recent decision vacates the Ninth Circuit but allows the case to continue to move forward to examine factual developments in the case.
In a statement, CAIR-LA Legal Director Amr Shabaik, Esq., said:
“The FBI’s surveillance operation on the Southern California Muslim community was a blatant violation of civil rights and religious freedoms, and we will continue to fight for justice as this case returns to the district court. The government must be held accountable to the full extent for its unconstitutional targeting and surveillance of an entire community simply for practicing their faith.”
CAIR-LA is Southern California’s largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance understanding of Islam, protect civil rights, promote justice and empower American Muslims.
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CONTACT: CAIR-LA Communications Manager Enjy El-Kadi, (714) 851-4851 or eelkadi@cair.com; CAIR-LA Senior Communications Coordinator Madi Hameed, mmorsehameed@cair.com