N.Y. Civil Rights Activists Take Aim at the FBI Before the Nation's Highest Court

Webster, NY – Civil rights attorney Paloma A. Capanna announced the filing of a Petition for Writ of Certiorari to the United States Supreme Court in the case of Robinson, et al. v. Sessions, et al. The Petition requests permission to appeal to the nation’s high court, a privilege granted to approximately 80 cases per term (year).

The case of Robinson v. Sessions concerns the civil rights of individuals who lawfully purchase a firearm through a federally-licensed dealer, using the NICS background check system. The government defendants have admitted it compares every firearms customer against the “Terrorist Screening Database,” even though a NICS-to-TSDB match cannot result in the denial of the attempted firearms purchase. The Plaintiffs charge that this violates Brady Act restrictions on FBI use of a customer’s personal information.

“This is outrageous,” said Bill Robinson, lead Plaintiff. “The FBI has run more than 222 million background checks for firearms purchases against the Terrorist Screening Database without the legal authority to do so. The Brady Act guaranteed our right to privacy for the information we fill out on the ATF Form 4473. The FBI is violating the black letter of the law.”

Capanna describes the case as “unusual” because the government has already admitted all of the material allegations made against it. “Robinson v. Sessions needs to be heard by SCOTUS because the FBI reads and quotes the law, but then does not follow it. If we can’t stop the FBI’s activities in this case where all the allegations are admitted, then we are one giant step closer to the implementation of a government super computer where all of your personal information is linked.”

The case was dismissed in the lower courts. There, the judges said that the person who would have standing to bring such a lawsuit is a person alleged to be a “terrorist” as part of the TSDB. The Plaintiffs are asking SCOTUS to reverse and grant standing to proceed with the case on the merits to obtain a permanent injunction against the FBI, ATF, Terrorist Screening Center, and the U.S. Attorney General.

THE PETITION IS AVAILABLE ON LINE AT: www.Law-Policy.com.