Muslim groups' lawsuit over surveillance revived

A coalition of Muslim groups can pursue a civil rights lawsuit that accuses New York police of conducting secret surveillance of Muslims in New Jersey without suspicion of criminal activity, a US appeals court ruled on Tuesday.

The 3rd US Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia reversed a lower court's decision to throw out the case, finding the plaintiffs had legal standing to assert claims that the counter-terrorism program violated their rights.

"We have learned from experience that it is often where the asserted interest appears most compelling that we must be most vigilant in protecting constitutional rights," Circuit Judge Thomas Ambro wrote for a three-judge panel, invoking the US internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II.