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<div class="header reader-header reader-show-element"> <font
size="-2"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://ccrjustice.org/home/press-center/press-releases/supreme-court-unanimous-american-muslims-placed-no-fly-list">https://ccrjustice.org/home/press-center/press-releases/supreme-court-unanimous-american-muslims-placed-no-fly-list</a></font><br>
<h1 class="reader-title">Supreme Court Unanimous: American
Muslims Placed on No-Fly List for Refusing to Spy on Their
Communities Can Sue FBI Agents for Damages</h1>
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<p><em>December 10, 2020, Washington, D.C. –</em> Today,
the United States Supreme Court ruled unanimously that
American Muslims who were placed or kept on the No-Fly
List in retaliation for refusing to spy on their
communities may sue individual FBI agents for
interfering with their freedom to practice their
religion. The men initially sued to be removed from the
List. After years of being prevented from flying, and
just days before the first major hearing in the case,
the defendants issued each man a letter informing them
they were no longer on the List. A judge then dismissed
the remaining portion of their lawsuit, which sought
damages for the emotional and financial harm the men had
suffered, but a federal appeals court reinstated the
case. The Trump administration appealed to the Supreme
Court, which ruled today that the men may sue for
damages.</p>
<p>“It is a soaring feeling,” said <strong>lead plaintiff
</strong><a
href="https://ccrjustice.org/muhammad-tanvir"><strong>Muhammad
Tanvir.</strong></a> “I made my life in this
country, so this is important not just for me, but for
everybody. I don’t want the same thing that the FBI did
to me to happen to others.”</p>
<p>After repeatedly refusing FBI requests to spy on their
Muslim communities — among other things, to visit online
Islamic forums or attend certain mosques and “act
extremist” — and after years of flying without incident,
Muhammad Tanvir, Jameel Algibhah, Naveed Shinwari, and a
fourth man who did not join in the appeal discovered
they were not permitted to board flights. FBI agents
told each man he would be able to get off the No-Fly
List if he agreed to work for the FBI. The FBI's focus
on the men had nothing to do with any criminal
investigation. </p>
<p>The men argued that the FBI agents abused the List,
placing them on it not because they posed any threat to
aviation security, but in order to coerce them into
being informants on their communities, thereby violating
their religious rights. The case was brought under the
Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) and other
statutes. The men and their attorneys say it is not
enough simply to remove the men from the List; they say
accountability for abuses by FBI agents is necessary to
prevent those abuses from happening again.</p>
<p>According to the unanimous decision, “A damages remedy
is not just ‘appropriate’ relief as viewed through the
lens of suits against Government employees. It is also
the only form of relief that can remedy some RFRA
violations. For certain injuries, such as respondents’
wasted plane tickets, effective relief consists of
damages, not an injunction.”</p>
<p>“The Supreme Court today vindicated our clients’
courageous stand for their religious freedom as Muslims
who would not spy on their own faith community,” said<a
href="https://www.law.cuny.edu/faculty/directory/kassem/"
target="_blank"> <strong>Ramzi Kassem</strong></a><strong>,
Professor of Law and Director of the </strong><a
href="https://www.cunyclear.org/" target="_blank"><strong>CLEAR</strong></a><strong>
(Creating Law Enforcement Accountability &
Responsibility) Clinic at CUNY School of Law</strong>,
who argued the case before the Court. “The Court’s
unanimous decision also sends a clear message to FBI
agents who should think twice now before abusing the
power to put people on the No-Fly List.”</p>
<p>As a result of their placement on the No-Fly List, for
years the men were unable to see spouses, children, sick
parents, and elderly grandparents who are overseas. They
lost jobs, were stigmatized within their communities,
and suffered severe financial and emotional distress. </p>
<p>Said <a
href="https://ccrjustice.org/home/who-we-are/staff/azmy-baher"><strong>Baher
Azmy</strong></a><strong>, Legal Director of the
Center for Constitutional Rights</strong>, “We are
gratified that our clients’ brave fight for recognition
and accountability for these abuses of law enforcement
power can continue in the courts. This decision sends a
message that the FBI cannot continue to assume they can
act with impunity in surveilling, harassing, and
punishing the Muslim community, and other vulnerable
communities federal law enforcement entities seek to
target.”</p>
<p>Advocates say the FBI’s abusive behavior in this case
is just one example of the profiling, targeting, and
harassment of Muslims by law enforcement and other
government officials, which also includes extensive
surveillance and infiltration of their religious
communities and spaces, including mosques; holds on
immigration status and other benefits; and the Muslim
Ban.</p>
<p>“Today’s decision is a victory for religious
communities against improper government intrusion,” said
<strong>Jennifer R. Cowan, Pro Bono Counsel at Debevoise
& Plimpton LLP</strong>, “and it is the result of
our clients’ determination to stand up for their rights.
We look forward to continuing this fight in the district
court.”</p>
<p><a
href="https://ccrjustice.org/home/what-we-do/our-cases/tanvir-v-holder"><em>Tanvir
v. Tanzin</em></a> was brought by the CLEAR Project,
the Center for Constitutional Rights, and co-counsel at
the law firm of Debevoise & Plimpton LLP.</p>
<p><em>The </em><a href="https://www.cunyclear.org/"
target="_blank"><em>CLEAR project</em></a><em>
(Creating Law Enforcement Accountability &
Responsibility) is based out of Main Street Legal
Services, Inc., the clinical arm of CUNY School of
Law. CLEAR’s mandate is to serve Muslim and all other
clients, communities, and movements in the New York
City area and beyond that are targeted by local,
state, or federal government agencies under the guise
of national security and counterterrorism.</em></p>
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