The Importance of the Supreme Court's Decision That Muslims Can Sue
FBI Agents for Being Placed on the No-Fly List as Retaliation for
Refusing to be Informants

On Thursday, the CUNY-CLEAR,[1] led by Professor Ramzi Kassem,
won an important decision from the United States Supreme Court in

**Tanzin v. Tanvir. ** The plaintiffs in

**Tanzin** are three Muslim men. The men allege that they were placed on
the "No Fly List" as suspected terrorists in retaliation for
refusing to serve as informants for the FBI.  Upholding the early
decision of the Second Circuit, the U.S. Supreme Court found unanimously
that the men were entitled to seek money damages against individual FBI
agents for wrongful interference with their religious practices, under
the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 ("RFRA"). You can
learn more about the case on CLCMA's website.

This U.S. Supreme Court decision is important for several reasons. 
First, this is the second time in five years that the U.S. Supreme Court
has unanimously determined that statutes protecting religious
discrimination extend protections to Muslims.  The time first occurred
in the case of

**Holt v. Hobbs**, wherein the U.S. Supreme Court found that state
prison officials' prohibition of facial hair for a Muslim prisoner
violated the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act
("RLUIPA"). The fact that the U.S. Supreme Court has considered two
separate cases on this issue in five years is, in and of itself,
evidence of the unfortunate widespread practices of religious
discrimination by government officials against Muslims, under the guise
of security measures. The U.S. Supreme Court's unanimous decision in

**Tanzin** sends a strong signal that the federal courts should not
simply continue to acquiesce to the government's use of the national
security label to justify religious discrimination.

Second, this decision demonstrates the importance of courage. Each of
the plaintiffs in this case deserves our respect and gratitude. They
individually were willing to stand up in a public forum and acknowledge
that the FBI had labeled them as suspected terrorists, and explain why.
That takes courage.  Many will not read past "suspected
terrorist", but these men had the courage to tell their stories so
that what happened to them will not happen to others.

Third, while this decision does not put an end to the No Fly List, nor
does this decision put an end to the FBI's coercive tactics, what it
does do is give those of us involved in the struggle to end these
tactics another tool to use in the courtroom.  But like all tools, if
it not used, it is of no value.  The U.S. Supreme Court's decision
means that the

**Tanzin** plaintiffs are headed back to the district court to pursue
their claims.  They have not won yet, but with Professor Kassem's
advocacy, and with God's help, We trust they will.

At MLFA, through your support and funding of CLCMA, we too have been
engaged for the last five years in litigation against the coercive and
unlawful use of the No Fly List by the FBI.  CLCMA's clients, like the
plaintiffs in

**Tanzin**, have frequently been removed from the No Fly List shortly
before they could finally have a hearing in court.  Now we, too, look
forward to putting the

**Tanzin** decision to use in court.  To do that, we are going to need
the help of the community.  Without clients coming forward, we cannot
bring the suits necessary to stop these practices.  If you are on the
No Fly List or have otherwise been retaliated against by the FBI or
other government officials, we want to hear from you.  You can request
our assistance by clicking here
.

______________________________________________________________________

[1] City
University of New York ("CUNY") Law School's clinic - Creating Law
Enforcement Accountability & Responsibility ("CLEAR").

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