Judge Halts Release of Documents on New York City Subway Searches

[steve2470]

http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGB6E3IDVCE.html

NEW YORK (AP) - 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.

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