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Cities Say No to the Patriot Act
(Kim Zetter, WiredNews, June 7, 2004)
Forget drug-free and nuclear-free zones. A growing grassroots movement seeks to make the United States a Patriot Act-free zone, one city at a time. . . . Or, at the very least, the people behind the movement hope to make their cities constitutional safe zones. . . . In the past two years, more than 300 cities and four states have passed resolutions calling on Congress to repeal or change parts of the USA Patriot Act that, activists say, violate constitutional rights such as free speech and freedom from unreasonable search and seizure. . . . local authorities will insist on complying with federal orders only in ways that do not violate constitutional rights. The resolutions are not binding, however, and do not affect the federal government's actions. . . . The national movement was launched in 2001 by the Bill of Rights Defense Committee . . . Word spread quickly to other communities, four of which passed their own resolutions before Northampton passed its declaration the following May. . . . Two years later, 322 municipalities and four states -- Alaska, Hawaii, Maine and Vermont -- have [anti]-Patriot Act resolutions. . . . Congress passed the USA Patriot Act swiftly in October 2001, 45 days after the Sept. 11 attacks, easing restrictions on the government's ability to dig up personal information about citizens and non-citizens, and obtain wiretaps and search warrants. Only one senator, Russ Feingold (D-Wisconsin), and 61 House of Representative members voted against the legislation. . . . Under the act, federal investigators can obtain individuals' library, financial, health and education records from cities while barring municipal workers from letting anyone know authorities have seized the documents. Officials can also monitor the activities of people who have not been identified as suspects and search a home or office without prior notice. . . . The municipal resolutions, crafted individually by each community, vary in language. They affirm, for the most part, that city employees aiding federal authorities in national security investigations will not violate the rights of people under investigation, such as monitoring political and religious gatherings where people are engaging in activities protected by the First Amendment. . . . Hawaii was the first to pass a statewide resolution, citing the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II as a motivating factor.

posted by Lorenzo 1:01 PM