Case Overview

In 2007, the Los Angeles Police Department (“LAPD”) proposed implementing a “community mapping” program intended to target the Muslim population and, according to the LAPD, identify communities that “may be susceptible to violent ideologically based extremism.”

Following concerns about the program’s discriminatory and stigmatizing impact, the program was indefinitely postponed and Muslim Advocates sought additional information as to the development and scope of the proposed project. In July 2016, after repeatedly seeking the requested documents, Muslim Advocates, represented by the law firm Davis Wright Tremaine LLP, filed suit against the LAPD under the California Public Records Act to compel production.

In a significant win for Muslim Advocates, the Court ruled in October 2017 that the LAPD had not adequately complied with the request and ordered that they conduct a more thorough search of specific departments Muslim Advocates had identified as likely to have responsive documents.

Over the course of this litigation, the LAPD has been forced to produce hundreds of relevant documents, any of which undermine the LAPD’s portrayal of the program as innocuous. Instead, these documents reveal that the LAPD often considered the program through a lens that associated Muslims with terrorism.

CASE DETAILS

Date filed: July 25, 2016

Court:  California Superior Court

Co-Counsel: Davis Wright Tremaine LLP