In lieu of our actually getting our own version of an Ithaca/Tompkins County Bill of Rights Defense Committee started http://www.bordc.org/, Dan Cogan of Ithaca Common Council (elected on the Green Line in 2001) has drafted the following Resolution as a strong rebuttal to the USA Patriot Act. (Thanks for your hard work on this, Dan!) Dan's note appears immediately below, followed by the text of the proposed Resolution. Following the Resolution are the names, email addresses, and phone numbers of all Ithaca Council members.
Have sent to the larger New York activist list in hopes of inspiring similiar work beyond our County. Onward as well with such a Resolution to the Tompkins County Legislature!
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I sent the following and attached resolution to Common Council. I would like to hopefully pass something at our February 5 meeting. I think that the second and third Resolveds will be the most problematic.
Please circulate widely and help me to drum up support. Please have people contact their Common Council representatives and let them know that they would like to see this resolution passed.
dan
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Resolution to Defend the Civil Rights and Liberties of the People of Ithaca
Whereas, the City of Ithaca is home to a diverse population, including citizens of other nations, whose contributions to the community are vital to its character and function, and
Whereas, the City of Ithaca has a long and distinguished history of protecting and expanding civil rights and civil liberties, often being a haven for citizens of the United States and other nations when liberties are threatened, and
Whereas, the City of Ithaca and its citizens are governed by the United States Constitution, including the Bill of Rights, and the New York State Constitution, and
Whereas the Declaration of Independence lays the groundwork for basic human rights in the United States, and
Whereas, the Bill of Rights of the United States Constitution guarantee those living in the United States the following rights:
* Freedom of speech, assembly and privacy;
* Protection from unreasonable searches and seizures; and
* Due process in judicial proceedings and access to counsel; and
* Protection from cruel and unusual punishment; and
* Equality before the law and the presumption of innocence;
Whereas, in response to the tragic events of September 11, 2001, the United States Congress passed the USA PATRIOT Act which was signed into law by President George W. Bush on October 26, 2001, and
Whereas, many residents of Ithaca, surrounding communities, and other communities across the nation are concerned that the USA PATRIOT Act threatens our civil rights and liberties by:
* Greatly expanding the government's ability to secretly enter homes and
offices to conduct searches without warrants;
* Significantly reducing the requirement for judicial supervision over
telephone, e-mail and Internet surveillance;
* Granting law enforcement officials broad access to sensitive medical,
mental health, business, financial, educational, and other records
about individuals without first showing probable cause or evidence of a
crime;
* Granting law enforcement officials expanded authority to obtain from
libraries and bookstores any records of books that a person has borrowed
or purchased, and prohibiting librarians and employees from disclosing
that they have been ordered to produce such records;
* Granting unchecked power to the U.S. Secretary of State to designate
domestic groups, including religious and political organizations, as
"terrorist organizations";
* Creating a crime of “domestic terrorism” that is so vaguely defined,
it could be applied to political activists and could lead to the
criminalization of legitimate political dissent;
* Granting power to the U.S. Attorney General to subject immigrants to
indefinite detention or deportation, even if they have not committed a
crime;
* Allowing the CIA to have access to sensitive information gathered
during criminal investigations; and
Whereas, the civil rights and liberties of all Americans are further threatened by orders and rules of the executive branch that:
* Establish secret military tribunals for terrorism suspects;
* Authorize eavesdropping on confidential communications between lawyers
and their clients in federal custody;
* Allows the government to designate citizens as “enemy combatants” and
place them in military custody indefinitely without access to counsel or
judicial review;
* Remove Justice Department regulations against covert, illegal
counter-intelligence operations by the FBI that in the past targeted
domestic groups and individuals;
* Limit the disclosure of public documents and records under the Freedom
of Information Act; and
Whereas, the Common Council of the City of Ithaca affirms its strong opposition to terrorism, but also affirms that efforts to end terrorism should not disproportionately infringe on the essential civil rights and liberties of the people of Ithaca, and
Whereas, the Common Council of the City of Ithaca recognizes that excessive infringement on the constitutionally guaranteed rights of any person, under the color of law, is an abuse of power, a breach of the public trust and is beyond the scope of governmental authority, and
Whereas, at least 26 other communities around the country have passed resolutions reinforcing local efforts to support and defend the civil rights of their residents, now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, that the Common Council of the City of Ithaca affirms its strong support for fundamental constitutional rights and its opposition to federal measures that infringe on civil liberties, and be it further
RESOLVED, that, to the greatest extent legally possible, no City of Ithaca employee or department shall officially assist or voluntarily cooperate with investigations, interrogations, surveillance, or arrest procedures, public or clandestine, that are judged to be in violation of individuals' civil rights or civil liberties as specified in the Bill of Rights and the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution, and be it further
RESOLVED, that the City of Ithaca requests that the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the New York State Police, and any other Federal, State and local law enforcement officers with any such information report publicly each month to the City of Ithaca Common Council and the Tompkins County Human Rights Commission the extent and manner in which they have acted under the USA PATRIOT Act and new Executive Orders, including but not limited to disclosing:
* The names of any detainees held in the area, or any City of Ithaca
residents detained here or elsewhere, and the circumstances that led to
the detention;
* The charges, if any, lodged against each detainee;
* The name of Counsel, if any, representing each detainee;
* The number of search warrants that have been executed in the City of
Ithaca without notice to the subject of the warrant pursuant to §213 of
the USA PATRIOT act;
* The extent of electronic surveillance carried out in the City of
Ithaca under powers granted in the USA PATRIOT Act;
* The extent to which federal authorities are monitoring political
meetings, religious gatherings or other such activities within the City
of Ithaca;
* The number of times education records have been obtained from public
schools and institutions of higher learning in the City of Ithaca under
§507 of the USA PATRIOT Act;
* The number of times library records have been obtained from libraries
in the City of Ithaca under §215 of the USA PATRIOT Act;
* The number of times that records of the books purchased by store
patrons have been obtained from bookstores in the City of Ithaca under
§215 of the USA PATRIOT Act; and
* Subpoenas issued to Ithaca citizens through the United States
Attorney’s Office without a court’s approval or knowledge; and be it
further
RESOLVED, that the City of Ithaca requests that New York State Senators Charles Schumer and Hillary Clinton and New York State Congressman Maurice Hinchey monitor the implementation of the USA PATRIOT Act and the associated orders and rules of the executive branch and actively work for the repeal of those portions of the Act and those orders and rules that violate the rights and liberties guaranteed by the United States Constitution, and be it further
RESOLVED, that the City Clerk communicate this resolution to all City departments and employees, New York State’s Congressional Delegation, the Governor and Attorney General of the State of New York, the local U.S. Attorney's office, the local office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the New York State Police, the United States Attorney General, and the President of the United States.
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Common Council:
Paulette Manos--First Ward, 273-4170, paulettem@cityofithaca.org
Susan Blumenthal--Third Ward, 272-3931, susanb@cityofithaca.org
Patricia Pryor--First Ward, 273-1741, patp@cityofithaca.org
David Whitmore--Second Ward, 273-1254, davidw@cityofithaca.org
Diann Sams--Second Ward, 277-8188, dianns@cityofithaca.org
Patricia Vaughan--Third Ward, 273-3870, patv@cityofithaca.org
Carolyn Peterson--Fourth Ward, 272-8129, carolynp@cityofithaca.org
Peter Mack--Fourth Ward, 253-7072, peterm@cityofithaca.org
Daniel Cogan--Fifth Ward, 273-2076, dcogan@cityofithaca.org
Edward Hershey--Fifth Ward, 272-0590, enh2@cornell.edu
