NEW YORK, NY February 28, 2008 —REPORTER: A federal judge has ruled in support of a 23-year-old consent decree that sets guidelines for Police Department conduct, specifically when it's investigating groups or individuals engaged in political activity.

Attorney Jethro Eisenstein says the ruling re-affirms the so-called Handschu Guidelines, named for a plaintiff in the case that goes back to the Vietnam War.

EISENSTEIN: So that means there continues to be oversight. There continues to be a set of rules governing police surveillance of political activity, and there continues to be a way to bring a violation to the attention of the court.

REPORTER: After September 11th, the NYPD was allowed to modify the guidelines.

This week's ruling is part of a case brought by participants in a 2005 protest who claim they were illegally videotaped by police.

The NYPD says the protestors were blocking the sidewalk.