Thread by @KlasfeldReports

Police unions' appeal of a ruling allowing the @NYCLU to publish a database of disciplinary records is about to begin in the Second Circuit.

Background from last month, @CourthouseNews courthousenews.com/judge-green-li…

After a brief delay for tech difficulties, the police unions case is the first one up.

Up first is Courtney Saleski for the unions.

Judge Pooler quickly interrupts and asks how the NYCLU be bound by an agreement to which they were not a party.

You can listen to it live here:

ww2.ca2.uscourts.gov/court.html

The unions claim that the NYCLU and the city were in "active concert" to violate a restraining order, but one of the judges notes that order didn't exist when NYCLU got the records.

"The NYCLU did not know about the order for the obvious reason that it hadn’t been entered."

The New York Times' attorney Alexandra Perloff-Giles slams the police unions for seeking "an indefinite prior restraint," citing the Pentagon Papers precedent.

At the end of the unions' argument, there was an interesting exchange with U.S. Circuit Judge Rosemary Pooler.

She asked about a spreadsheet with 81,000 names

Q: Does it list the officers by name?
A: It does, your honor.

NYCLU's Molly Biklen is up, noting that the group has been blocked from publication for roughly a month:

"This is an intolerable burden on the NYCLU’s First Amendment rights" at a time when the issues are in the national conversation.

The judges reserve decision.

At least two members of the three-judge panel seemed very skeptical of the police unions' appeal, believing the case would tilt to the NYCLU without even delving into 1st Amendment issues.

For these judges, the NYCLU could not have plotted to break an order before it existed.

The NYCLU received its freedom of information law request with that database/spreadsheet before the restraining order had been entered.

More soon.