Civil Rights Groups Sue ADL, Ask for Injunction Against Spying : Court: Plaintiffs say that law enforcement authorities allowed confidential files to be given to the Jewish anti-extremism organization.

An array of civil rights organizations filed a federal lawsuit Thursday against the Anti-Defamation League and law enforcement authorities in Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego, asking for an injunction against spying and damages for alleged privacy violations.

Groups representing Arab-Americans and African-Americans led the effort, along with other organizations. Joining in the suit were former Lt. Gov. Mervyn Dymally, former Los Angeles City Councilman Robert Farrell and others who said their names turned up in files obtained by ADL operatives from police agencies.

The lawsuit, while months in preparation, was filed at a time when ADL critics have doubts that a lengthy investigation by San Francisco Dist. Atty. Arlo Smith of alleged ADL spying will lead to charges against the Jewish civil rights and anti-extremism organization.

Smith has been attempting to negotiate an agreement with the ADL that would require the group to halt its intelligence-gathering activities in California in exchange for lenient treatment.

Those negotiations have proceeded slowly, said one source close to the investigation, and the district attorney’s office has made plans to take the case before a San Francisco grand jury next month.

In recent days, however, negotiations to resolve the case without prosecution have resumed, the source said. As part of a negotiated settlement, prosecutors want the Anti-Defamation League to pay a fine and promise that it will not engage in improper spying in California, he said.

However, prosecutors refuse to go along with the Anti-Defamation League request for the return of documents seized earlier this year, which include illegally obtained police information such as mug photos and rap sheets.

“Talks have started up again,” said the source close to the investigation.

The ADL has continued to maintain that it did nothing improper in what it calls its fact-finding operations.

“Despite the transparent objectives of those bringing this suit, ADL will not be deterred from its mandate to counter extremism in defense of American democracy,” the ADL said Thursday, responding to the latest suit. “We will continue to champion the civil rights of all Americans, even those who have brought this suit.”

In the meantime, the plaintiffs in an earlier lawsuit over alleged ADL spying suffered a blow earlier this month. A San Francisco judge ruled that the ADL was an organization with journalistic purpose that had some protection under the state “shield law” that allows journalists to guard the identity of their sources.

The significance of the decision is disputed, however, and how it applies to the federal suit filed Thursday is unclear. The judge extended journalistic shield privileges to the ADL, which says it exists to fight extremism. However, the judge said the protection extends only to the group’s journalistic activities and not necessarily to all documents.

Plaintiffs in the new lawsuit include the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, the National Conference of Black Lawyers, the Bay Area Anti-Apartheid Network, the American Indian Movement, the National Lawyers Guild, the Coalition Against Police Abuse and the Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador.

All say that the ADL hired intelligence agents with close police ties to gather secret information about their activities. Dymally and Farrell charge that their comments in private meetings were summarized in law enforcement files that were made available to the ADL.

The suit named Los Angeles and San Diego counties and the city and county of San Francisco, where plaintiffs allege that law enforcement authorities allowed confidential files to be given to ADL operatives.

The only person charged in the year-old investigation of the ADL is former San Francisco Police Officer Tom Gerard, who had fled to the Philippines after he was questioned by the FBI. He was arrested on his return to San Francisco and charged with disclosing confidential police documents to ADL operative Roy Bullock.

Gerard is free on bail while his criminal case is pending.

Reich reported from Los Angeles, Paddock from San Francisco.