Occupy Wall Street protesters marching in Manhattan in October. (Photo: Getty)

A coalition of Occupy Wall Street protesters and attorneys for civil rights organizations filed a Freedom of Information Law requesttoday asking the NYPD to reveal "all information concerning the policies guiding the law enforcement response to Occupy demonstrations since last September." The FOIL request is part of efforts to investigate the government response to the protests.

“Assembly and speech rights are core to our democracy. We have been investigating the police treatment of OWS for months, and the policing of OWS has been abusive and unpredictable,” Emi MacLean, an attorney with the Protest and Assembly Rights Project, said in a statement announcing the request. “Mayor Bloomberg has described the NYPD as his army. It is, of course, not an army but a civilian police force. And even armies require some measure of transparency and accountability.”

The NYPD has come under fire for violent arrests that occurred during the Occupy demonstrations that began last September and the subsequent eviction of the protest encampment in Zuccotti Park last November. Organizations teaming up for the FOIL request include; the OWS Archives Working Group, the Global Justice Clinic at NYU School of Law, the Walter Leitner International Human Rights Clinic, the Center for Constitutional Rights and the New York City chapter of the National Lawyers Guild.

Governor Cuomo (Photo: Getty)

Governor Andrew Cuomo approvingly announced today that more and more New Yorkers are getting the book thrown at them for driving under the influence ... the influence of Twitter and text messages, that is.

As a result of a new strict New York law banning the practice, since July, almost 119,000 motorists have been ticketed for using handheld devices while on the road.

"Texting while driving is illegal and endangers the lives of New Yorkers across the state," Governor Cuomo said in a statement. "These tickets should send a resounding message to all drivers: keep your eyes on the road and your hands on the wheel. I thank the State Police and local law enforcement for their dedication to ensuring the safety of the people of the state of New York."

"These numbers speak for themselves," Joseph D'Amico, the Superintendent of the New York State Police added. "The Governor knew that this law would help New York law enforcement fight distracted driving and impose more severe penalties on those breaking the law so that they do not repeat it. "

The Politicker hopes you were not reading this story behind the wheel.

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand speaking at the ABNY breakfast. (Photo: Hunter Walker)

At last Friday's ABNY breakfast, The Politicker asked Senator Kirsten Gillibrand about the protests she faced earlier this month over her support for this year's National Defense Appropriations Act, which contained a provision that would allow the government to indefinitely detain U.S. citizens accused of terrorism. Senator Gillibrand, who voted for two amendments that would have changed the controversial provision, said the concerns of the protesters were "legitimate" and vowed to "keep fighting" for civil liberties.

"It's a very complex bill, but the provision that people are upset about, I share their concerns," Senator Gillibrand said. 

Though Senator Gillibrand initially voted for the NDAA, which provides the military with $662 billion in funding for the current fiscal year, she subsequently voted for an amendment sponsored by Colorado Senator Mark Udall that called for Congressional hearings reviewing the procedures for detaining terrorism suspects. Senator Gillibrand also voted for an amendment sponsored by California Senator Dianne Feinstein that would have limited military custody of terrorism detainees to those captured abroad. Both amendments were eventually defeated.

"I worked very hard with Mark Udall and Senator Feinstein to make sure that American's rights are guaranteed and that they cannot be thrown into a jail and never heard from again. We want our basic civil rights, we want our basic human rights," Senator Gillibrand said.

After a veto threat from President Barack Obama, the Senate added provisions to the NDAA clarifying that nothing in the bill would affect "existing criminal enforcement and national security authorities of the FBI or any other domestic law enforcement agency" to deal with a captured suspect "regardless of whether such ... person is held in military custody."

Senator Gillibrand said these changes made her feel comfortable moving forward on the bill, but she promised to continue working to ensure civil liberties of American citizens are protected.

"We were able to get the bill into a place where all current U.S. law is relevant and is the deciding factor, and so we felt there was enough protections to move forward," Senator Gillibrand said. "But that doesn't mean we're not going to keep fighting on the issue and making sure those protections are guaranteed."