Resolution of ADL Spy Scandal Case

ADC Press Release:
Resolution of ADL Spy Scandal Case

Washington, DC. September 27,  "ADL's admission that
it has spied on Arab-American, anti-aparthied and civil
rights organizations and individuals vindicates our view
that ADL has engaged in illegal activities to undermine
the work of such groups and damage the cause and
reputation of the Arab-American community" said Hala
Maksoud, President of the American-Arab Anti-
Discrimination Committee (ADC).
               
Today in Los Angeles a final settlement was reached
and approved by U.S. federal judge Richard Paez in ADC v.
ADL, the lawsuit resulting from the illegal spying by
California offices of the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai
B'rith (ADL) against Arab-American, anti-apartheid and
civil rights activists. ADL spied on groups as diverse as
ADC, Greenpeace, the United Farm Workers Union, Artists
Against Apartheid, ACT UP, Action for Animals, the Asian
Law Caucus of San Francisco and the American Indian
Movement (AIM), as well as hundreds of individuals
including elected officials. This class-action case on
behalf of over 800 groups and individuals was brought in
federal court following disclosures by the San Francisco
Police Department that ADL's spying activities were
funded with money funneled through a secret and illegal
Los Angeles ADL bank account held in a false name and a
prominent Beverly Hills lawyer.
               
Under the permanent injunction issued by today, ADL
is permanently enjoined from engaging in any further
illegal spying against Arab-American and other civil
rights groups, and must provide an annual statement to
ADC's legal counsel for four years explaining the steps
ADL has taken to remain in compliance. A court-appointed
Special Master will supervise the removal of the
illegally-obtained information from ADL's files and hold
them for six to ten years for use in any other suits,
after which they will be destroyed. Information to be
removed from ADL's files includes law enforcement
surveillance reports and political intelligence, criminal
arrest records, fingerprint cards, mug shots, Social
Security numbers, driver's license numbers, license plate
numbers, vehicle registration numbers, and Post Office
boxes not legally available to the public.
               
Among the co-plaintiffs joining ADC in the suit are:
Mervyn Dymally (fromer congressman), Robert Farrell
(former L.A. City Councilor), Prof. Gerald Horne, the
National Conference of Black Lawyers, the National
Lawyers Guild, the Bay Area Anti-Apartheid Network, the
National Association of Arab-Americans, the Association
of Arab-American University Graduates, the Coalition
Against Police Abuse, the Committee in Solidarity With
the People of El Salvador, Global Exchange, the
International Jewish Peace Union, AIM and the Palestine
Solidarity Committee. Peter Schey, of the Center for
Human Rights & Constitutional Law, and lead counsel for
ADC, said: "The ADL leadership went far overboard when it
authorized the organization's operatives to unlawfully
gather confidential law enforcement information on
hundreds of civil rights organizations and activists who
pose no threat whatsoever to the Jewish community."