Judge Halts Release of NYC Search Papers

AP ^ | 8/26/5 | LARRY NEUMEISTER

[SmithL]

New York -- A federal judge blocked the release of information about random bag searches in New York City subways, saying officials may be able to prove that the success of the program depends on its secrecy.

U.S. District Judge Richard M. Berman's decision Friday overruled a magistrate judge who had ordered the city to disclose details such as the number of days during a one-month period that searches were conducted.

Berman said the magistrate judge did not adequately consider the city's concerns. He said it would serve little purpose to allow the New York Civil Liberties Union, which sued claiming the searches were unconstitutional, to see sensitive information about the searches before public officials and experts testify at a hearing next month.

"The city may be able to demonstrate that the Subway Search Program effectively deters terrorism precisely because it is random and unpredictable," the judge wrote in a decision released Friday.

The bag searches in nation's largest subway system began last month after the deadly mass transit bombings in London.

Christopher Dunn, associate legal director of the NYCLU, said the information was critical to deciding whether the subway searches are effective and constitutional.

"If the city's not prepared to release this information, we are exploring ways to obtain it ourselves,"

[SmithL]

The NYCLU is doing its best to aid terrorists.