New York Court of Appeals Index No. 100580/2013 In the Matter of the Application of MICHAEL GRABELL, Petitioner-Respondent, For a Judgment Pursuant to Article 78 of the Civil Practice Law and Rules, -against- NEW YORK CITY POLICE DEPARTMENT, Respondent-Appellant. BRIEF OF AMICI CURIAE THE REPORTERS CO:MMITTEE FOR FREEDOM OF THE PRESS AND 14 MEDIA ORGANIZATIONS* IN SUPPORT OF PETITIONER-RESPONDENT'S MOTION FOR LEAVE TO APPEAL Bruce D. Brown, Esq. Robert D. Balin, Esq. Katie Tovmsend, Esq. John M. Browning, Esq. Adam A. Marshall) Esq. DAVIS WRIGHT TREMAINE LLP Selina McClaren, Esq. 1251 A venue of the Americas REPORTERS COMMITTEE FOR 21st Floor FREEDOM OF THE PRESS New York, New York 10020-1104 1156 15th Street Tel.: 212.489.8230 Suite 1250 Counsel ofRecord for Amici Curiae Washington, D.C. 20005 202.795.9300 * A full list of amici is reproduced Of Counsel within PRINTED ON RECYCLED PAPER@ TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTEI\TTS .......................................................................................... ii TABLE OF AUTHORITIES .................................................................................... iii IDENTITY AND INTEREST OF AMICI CURIAE ................................................. 1 INTRODUCTION AND SUMMARY OF ARGUMENT ....................................... 3 ARGUMENT ............................................................................................................ 5 I. The First Department's decision warrants review by this Court because it ignored publicly available information about ZBVs and failed to order the release of segregable information.................................................................... 5 II. The First Department's decision jeopardizes the ability of FOIL to serve as an effective tool for public oversight of law enforcement activities ............. 13 CONCLUSION ....................................................................................................... 18 APPENDIX A ......................................................................................................... 19 APPENDIX B .......................................................................................................... 24 APPEJ\TDIX C .......................................................................................................... 26 11 TABLE OF AUTHORITIES Cases Capital Newspapers, Div. ofHearst Corp. v. Whalen, 69 N.Y.2d 246, 505 N.E.2d 932 (1987) ........................................................................................................ 5, 12 Hanig v. State Dep't ofMotor Vehicles, 79 N.Y.2d 106, 588 N.E.2d 750 (1992) .... 5 .~.\fatter ofFink v. Lefkowitz, 47 N.Y.2d 567 (1979) ................................................ 13 Matter ofSchenectady County Socy. for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals v. Mills, Inc., 18 NY3d 42, 958 N.E.2d 1194 (2011) ................................................. 5 Statutes FOIL§ 84 ............................................................................................................ 4, 12 FOIL§ 87 .................................................................................................................. 3 FOIL§ 89 .................................................................................................................. 5 Other Authorities A1 Baker, Judge Orders City to Release Reports on Shots Fired by Police at Civilians Since 1997, N.Y. Times ........................................................................ 17 Alex Chalmers, Abstract: three applications ofbackscatter x-ray imaging technology to homeland defense, Proc. SPIE 5778, 989 (August 05, 2005) ......... 9 Alex Emmons, New York Policy Have Used Stingrays Widely, New Documents Show, The Intercept (Feb. 11, 2016) .................................................................... 14 Ali Winston, Secrecy Shrouds NYPD's Anti-Terror Camera System, CityLimits.org (Apr. 26, 2010) ..................................................................................................... 17 Andy Greenberg, Full-Body Scan Technology Deployed In Street-Roving Vans, Forbes (Aug. 24, 2010), ......................................................................................... 9 Andy Greenberg, Researchers Easily Slipped Weapons Past TSA 's X-Ray Body Scanners, Wired (Aug. 20, 2014), http://wrd.cm/1thh4AC ................................... 9 AS&E, Mobile I ZB V (20 15) ..................................................................................... 6 Barry Baddock, Rocco Parascandola, Sarah Ryley, & Dareh Gregorian, Staten Island, borough where Eric Garner died, has highest number ofmost-sued NYPD officers, N.Y. Daily News (Jul. 28, 2014) ................................................ 16 111 Cargo & Vehicle Inspection, AS&E, http://as-e.com/print-image/zbv2/ ................. 6 Caroline Bankoff, The City Has Paid Almost Half a Billion Dollars in ATYPD- Related Settlements Over the Past 5 years, N.Y. Magazine (Oct. 12, 2014) ...... 16 CJ Ciaramella, Secrets ofthe NYPD, Salon.com (May 8, 2013) ............................ 13 Daniel Fitzsimmons, The Flaws in Cooper's Law, StrausMedia (Jun. 10, 2015) .. 16 Diane Macedo, X-Ray Vans: Security Measure, or Invasion ofPrivacy? Fox News (Oct. 22, 2010)................................................................ ...................................... 10 James Barron, Times Sues City Police, Saying Information Has Been Illegally Withheld, N.Y. Times (Dec. 21, 2010) ........................................................... :.... 13 JeffMorganteen, The NYPD's secrecy weapon, The N.Y. World (Aug. 2, 2013).16 Julia Marsh, NYPD Sued Over Cell-Tracking 'Stingray' Device, New York Post (May 19, 2016) ..................................................................................................... 14 Kiona Smith-Strickland, The Border Patrol's Go-To Gadgets, Popular Mechanics (Oct 25, 2013) ................. ................................................................... ................. .. 10 Marc Santora, Mayor de Blasio Announces Retraining ofNew York Police, N.Y. Times (Dec. 4, 2014) .......................................................................................... .. 16 Michael Powell, In Police Training, a Dark Film on U.S. Muslims, N.Y. Times (Jan. 23, 2012) ...................................................................................................... 15 Mobile I ZBV ®Features, AS&E, http://as-e.com/products-so1utions/cargo- vehicle-inspection/mobile/product/zbv/#features .................................................. 7 Patience Haggin, Law School Study Alleges NYPD Overstepped its Power during Occupy Protests, Time (Jul. 30, 2012) ................................................................. 17 Radley Balko, Obama moves to demilitarize America's police, The Wash. Post (May 18, 2015), archived at http://perma.cc/9NJL-6BLS ................................... 15 Shawn Musgrave, New data provides first detailed look at military gear held by New York law enforcement agencies, The N.Y. World (Oct. 14, 2014) .............. 14 Shawn Musgrave, NYPD Social Media Policy Allows Catfishing-With the Proper Paperwork, The Daily Beast (Feb. 5, 2015) ........................................................ 17 Stingrays, NYCLU, http://www .nyclu.org/stingrays ......................................... ..... 14 IV Tx-View Option for ZBV Video, YouTube (Mar. 25, 2016), https:// www. youtube.com/watch?v- AMpAcD_ KxiM...... .................................... 7 U.S. Patent Application No. 20130343520 ~ 10 (filed Aug. 27, 2013) .................... 9 Z Backscatter Van (ZBV ®) S-Class, Eastern Communications archived at https://perma.cc/LU9Q-QMYX ............................................................................. 7 Z Backscatter Van (ZBV), Global Security, archived at https://perma.cc/55G5- 9IIPT?type=image .................................................................................................. 8 v IDENTITY AND INTEREST OF AMICI CURIAE1 Amici are the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, Advance Publications, Inc., The Associated Press, BuzzFeed Inc., The Center for Investigative Reporting, Daily News, LP, First Look Media Works, Inc., Gawker Media LLC, Investigative Reporting Workshop at American University, MPA - The Association of Magazine Media, National Press Photographers Association, National Public Radio, Inc., The New York Times Company, Online News Association, and the Society of Professional Journalists (collectively, "amici"). Amici are described in more detail in Appendix A. As representatives and members of the news media, amici frequently rely on state and federal freedom of information laws, including New York's Freedom of Information Law ("FOIL"), to gather information about the government and report on matters of vital public concern. Amici thus have a strong interest in ensuring that such laws are interpreted by courts in a manner that facilitates public access to government records and assures government accountability. The Appellate Division, First Department, erroneously reversed the Supreme Court's decision requiring the New York Police Department ("NYPD") to release records concerning its controversial x-ray van program to Petitioner-Respondent. Amici urge this Court to grant Petitioner-Respondent's Motion for Leave to Appeal 1 All parties to the appeal have consented to the filing ofthis brief. 1 for the reasons set forth in his Memorandum of Law, and write separately to (1) provide the Court with additional information about