"Judge Orders NYC to Release Documents"

"Judge Orders NYC to Release Documents"
By LARRY NEUMEISTER
Associated Press Writer

January 22, 2007, 9:09 PM EST

NEW YORK -- A judge on Monday rejected the city's effort to keep secret most of the files and videotapes documenting the arrests of hundreds of protesters at the 2004 Republican National Convention.

U.S. Magistrate Judge James C. Francis IV repeatedly criticized the city's reasoning for its requests, saying that there was little factual support, or that they lacked common sense.

For instance, he rejected the city's arguments that some documents needed to be secret merely because they contain information that is unreliable or subject to misinterpretation.

"The mere fact that a given document does not provide the reader with a full picture does not make it unreliable," he wrote. "Additionally, the city gives the general public very little credit when it contends that readers will be unable to grasp that the information contained in these documents might be incomplete or inaccurate."

The New York Civil Liberties Union, which had brought the lawsuit, said it would not immediately release the information because the city may appeal.

More than 1,800 people were arrested at the four-day convention at Madison Square Garden, where President Bush accepted his party's nomination for a second term in office.

About 10,000 police officers from the 36,500-member department, the nation's largest, were deployed to protect the city from terrorism threats and to cope with tens of thousands of demonstrators at the convention.

The New York Civil Liberties Union filed two lawsuits in October 2004 challenging the mass arrests, gathering thousands of documents and videotapes in a legal process called discovery. The judge's order Monday rebuffed the city's request to prevent the NYCLU from releasing those documents publicly.

Christopher Dunn, NYCLU associate legal director, called the judge's findings "a very strong opinion saying 'no' to secrecy."

City lawyer Peter Farrell said the city was considering its legal options.

"The judge's decision may permit that documents that have already been provided in the case can be shared with the public. The city had opposed publication in the interests of preserving the privacy of people who participated in RNC demonstrations who are not involved in this lawsuit," he said.

Although both sides agreed that some documents could remain secret, the NYCLU challenged the secrecy of others.

Among the city's requests was a keeping confidential a document describing the use of plastic handcuffs.

"The allegedly sensitive information to which the city refers would be obvious to anyone with a modicum of common sense," the judge wrote.