FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 9, 2015 SCOPE Demands NYS Police “Stop the Secrecy!” Group Submits Hundreds of FOILs Colden, NY - The Shooters Committee on Political Education (“SCOPE”) today called upon the Superintendent of the New York State Police to put an end to its use of a secret database of more than 75,000 New Yorkers by submitting hundreds of Freedom of Information Requests from people all across the State, demanding to know if they have become part of the database. The “Integrated Safe Act Reporting System” CISARS"), actively grows at a rate of approximately 750 people per week, as reported by medical providers, with no notification to the individual as a patient in the medical system or as.a target in the law enforcement system. Mental Hygiene Law §9.46 has no individual reporting requirement. Jn May, SCOPE ran a month-long campaign titled “Stop the Secrecy!” to encourage individuals to submit a Freedom of Information Request to the NYS Police to leam whether they are part of the database Stephen J. Aldstadt, President of SCOPE, said, “What New Yorkers need to understand is that 99% of the people in the ISARS database are not even handgun license holders They are predominantly people who have had contact with a hospital emergency department who are numerically tagged as a°9.46" by a medical provider who is guessing what the person might do within the next five years. The NYS Police should not be permitted to standin the room with you and your doctor.” Paloma A. Capanna, Director of Legal Affairs for SCOPE and an attomey in private practice, represents the Plaintiffs in the federal lawsuit Montgomery vs. Cuomo, suing, among other things, to have the ISARS system shut down and to have all reported persons notified by the State. Capanna said, “The State wants to call ISARS ‘innovative’ in its court papers. It's not about being innovative. It's about being constitutional.”The Montgomery vs. Cuomo lawsuit makes claims under the Equal Protection Clause for discrimination against those with mental health concerns, the Due Process Clause for denying those reported the right to a hearing, Privacy for encouraging providers to transmit diagnosis and narrative information about patients to law enforcement in non- emergency circumstances, the Second Amendment for stripping at least handgun license holders of their permits, and the Fifth Amendment for confiscating all firearms of persons tagged as "9.46." SCOPE earlier issued a call for the NYS Police to shut down its 800-numbered “hotline” for gun owner questions as creating more confusion than clarity, and SCOPE recently demanded an immediate change to the NYS Police written policy on destruction of “nuisance firearms” in light of the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Henderson vs. u. Capanna recently prevailed in the case of Robinson vs. Cuomo, using a FOIL demand to secure a judicial ruling that the NYS Police are required to release statistical records on the “assault weapons” registry. The Attorneys in the case set June 22 as the deadline for release of the information or the filing of a Notice of Appeal. Capanna says that she will motion the Appellate Division to lift any automatic stay, if the State tries to delay the release of the information by filing an appeal. Bill Robinson is a member of SCOPE and is host of the “Second Amendment Radio Show.” FOILs submitted as part of this campaign are returnable to the individuals. Aldstadt said that SCOPE has been made aware that additional individuals throughout the state have also been individually mailing in FOILs directly to the NYS Police CONTACT: SCOPE Stephen J. Aldstadt, President 8316 Irish Road Colden, NY 14033 (716) 941-3286 www SCOPEny org Paloma A Capanna Attomey 633 Lake Road Webster, New York 14580 (685) 377-7260 www law-policy. m