US Supreme Court rules for FBI in Muslim surveillance dispute | The Business Standard
Skip to main content
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Wednesday
June 11, 2025

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 11, 2025
US Supreme Court rules for FBI in Muslim surveillance dispute

USA

Reuters
05 March, 2022, 11:10 am
Last modified: 05 March, 2022, 11:25 am

Related News

  • US Supreme Court lets Trump revoke humanitarian legal status for migrants
  • Turkish bank appeals Iran sanctions decision to US Supreme Court
  • US Supreme Court temporarily blocks deportations of Venezuelan migrants under wartime law
  • Trump names right-wing podcaster as FBI deputy director
  • US Supreme Court declines to let Trump immediately fire watchdog agency head

US Supreme Court rules for FBI in Muslim surveillance dispute

Reuters
05 March, 2022, 11:10 am
Last modified: 05 March, 2022, 11:25 am
US Supreme Court. File Photo: REUTERS
US Supreme Court. File Photo: REUTERS

The US Supreme Court on Friday ruled in favor of the FBI in a case concerning discrimination claims by three Muslim men from California who accused the agency of conducting illegal surveillance on them after the 11 September 2001, attacks on the United States.

The court unanimously overturned a lower court's 2019 ruling that said a federal law regulating government surveillance called the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) trumped the state secrets privilege - a legal defense based on national security interests - that the government asserted.

The ruling means the case returns to lower courts for further litigation, with the claims made by the plaintiffs not yet dismissed.

The Business Standard Google News Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel

The Supreme Court faulted the San Francisco-based 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals' analysis, with Justice Samuel Alito writing that the FISA provision in question "does not displace the state secrets privilege."

The lawsuit accused the FBI of infiltrating mainstream mosques in Southern California and targeting Muslim Americans for surveillance because of their religion. It accused the FBI of engaging in religious discrimination in violation of the US Constitution's First Amendment by targeting Muslims, as well as violating the Fourth Amendment prohibition on unreasonable searches and seizures.

The plaintiffs are: Eritrean-born US citizen Yassir Fazaga, an imam at the Orange County Islamic Foundation in Mission Viejo; native-born US citizen Ali Uddin Malik, who attended the Islamic Center of Irvine; and Yasser Abdel Rahim, a US permanent resident from Egypt who also attended the Islamic Center of Irvine. They are represented by the American Civil Liberties Union and others.

The lawsuit focused upon a 14-month period in 2006 and 2007 when the FBI paid an informant named Craig Monteilh to gather information on Muslims as part of a post-Sept. 11 counterterrorism investigation. Monteilh met with Muslims in southern California, adopted a Muslim name and said he wanted to convert to Islam, according to court papers.

Monteilh also recorded conversations and conducted surveillance, according to court papers.

The arrangement unraveled when Monteilh started making statements about wanting to take violent action. Community members reported him to the local police and obtained a restraining order against him, according to court papers.

A federal judge in 2012 dismissed the claims against the FBI, determining that they were barred under the state secrets privilege. The judge did permit claims accusing some individual FBI agents of violating the surveillance law.

The 9th Circuit ruled that the religious claims should instead be analyzed under a section of the FISA law that lets judges review the legality of surveillance. The 9th Circuit also allowed the unlawful search claims, not at issue before the Supreme Court, to move forward.

World+Biz

US Supreme Court / FBI / Muslim surveillance

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus speaks at the Chatham House in London on 11 June 2025. Photo: CA Press Wing
    No desire to be part of next elected govt: CA Yunus
  • File photo of BNP Standing Committee Member Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury. Photo: Collected
    Khasru flies to London to join Yunus-Tarique meeting
  • News of The Day, 11 JUNE 2025
    News of The Day, 11 JUNE 2025

MOST VIEWED

  • Illustration: Duniya Jahan/ TBS
    Forget Katy Perry, here’s Bangladesh’s Ruthba Yasmin shooting for the moon
  • A file photo of Bangladesh Bank Governor Dr Ahsan H Mansur. Photo: Collected
    'I have no relation with this': Ahsan Mansur debunks Joy’s allegations over daughter’s Dubai flat
  • Faiz Ahmad Tayeb. Photo: BSS
    Import duty on raw materials for e-bikes, lithium batteries reduced from 80% to 1% in some cases: Faiz Taiyeb
  • File photo of ex-prime minister Sheikh Hasina and her son Sajeeb Wazed Joy. Photo: Collected
    Joy spends Eid with Hasina in India: Indian media
  • Mercantile Bank withholds dividend amid Tk1,700cr provision shortfall
    Mercantile Bank withholds dividend amid Tk1,700cr provision shortfall
  • Shakil Ahmed. Photo: Collected
    DU student allegedly hangs himself following threats over old derogatory comment about Prophet on Facebook

Related News

  • US Supreme Court lets Trump revoke humanitarian legal status for migrants
  • Turkish bank appeals Iran sanctions decision to US Supreme Court
  • US Supreme Court temporarily blocks deportations of Venezuelan migrants under wartime law
  • Trump names right-wing podcaster as FBI deputy director
  • US Supreme Court declines to let Trump immediately fire watchdog agency head

Features

Among pet birds in the country, lovebirds are the most common, and they are also the most numerous in the haat. Photo: Junayet Rashel

Where feathers meet fortune: How a small pigeon stall became Dhaka’s premiere bird market

2h | Panorama
Illustration: Duniya Jahan/ TBS

Forget Katy Perry, here’s Bangladesh’s Ruthba Yasmin shooting for the moon

1d | Features
File photo of Eid holidaymakers returning to the capital from their country homes/Rajib Dhar

Dhaka: The city we never want to return to, but always do

2d | Features
Photo collage shows political posters in Bagerhat. Photos: Jannatul Naym Pieal

From Sheikh Dynasty to sibling rivalry: Bagerhat signals a turning tide in local politics

4d | Bangladesh

More Videos from TBS

What did Dr. Yunus say at the Chatham House Dialogue in London?

What did Dr. Yunus say at the Chatham House Dialogue in London?

13m | TBS Today
News of The Day, 11 JUNE 2025

News of The Day, 11 JUNE 2025

1h | TBS News of the day
WB predicts worst decade for global growth since 60s

WB predicts worst decade for global growth since 60s

2h | TBS Stories
Foreign firm to draft merger plan for investment promotion agencies

Foreign firm to draft merger plan for investment promotion agencies

4h | TBS Insight
EMAIL US
contact@tbsnews.net
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Advertisement
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2025
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net