March 12, 2003
On March 4, 2003, the Voters of Jamaica, VT approved the following resolution:
Whereas, the Bill of Rights of the United States Constitution and the Constitution of Vermont guarantee those living in the United States the following rights: freedom of speech, assembly and privacy; the rights to counsel and due process in judicial proceedings; and protection from unreasonable searches and seizures; and
WHEREAS, we believe these civil liberties are precious and are now threatened by:
- The USA PATRIOT Act, which all but eliminates judicial supervision of telephone and Internet surveillance; greatly expands the government's ability to Conduct secret searches; gives Attorney General and the Secretary of State Unchecked power to designate domestic groups as ""terrorist organizations""; and Grants the FBI broad access to sensitive medical, mental health, library, financial, And educational records about individuals without having to show evidence of a Crime without a court order; and
- The Homeland Security Act, which allows the federal government to maintain Extensive files on all Americas without a court order or probable cause or Evidence of a crime; expands the ability of government to access emails and Information about an individual's Internet activity without judicial supervision; and
- Federal Executive Orders, which establish secret military tribunals for terrorism Suspects; permit wiretapping of conversations between federal prisoners and Their lawyers; lift Justice Department regulations against illegal COINTELPRO-Type operations by the FBI (covert activities that in the past targeted domestic Groups and individuals); and limit the disclosure of public documents and records Under the Freedom of Information Act; and
WHEREAS, communities across the nation have adopted resolutions opposing those parts of the USA PATRIOT Act, the Homeland Security Act, and associated orders and rules of the executive branch that threaten civil liberties;
THEREFORE, be it resolved that the voters of the Town of Jamaica, Vermont, call on our local government to act in the spirit of our state and the federal Constitutions by asking local and state police, the local U.S. Attorney's office, and the FBI to:
- Report to Vermont citizens the extent to and matter in which they have acted under the USA PATRIOT Act, the Homeland Security Act, and orders and rules of the executive branch, or the COINTELPRO-type regulations, including disclosing the names of any detainees held in Vermont or any Jamaica residents detained elsewhere;
- Not participate, to the extent legally permissible, in law enforcement activities That threaten civil rights and civil liberties such as surveillance, wiretaps, and Securing of private information, which the Acts Orders authorize;
- Refrain from racial profiling, in law enforcement and detention without charges;
We call on Vermont's Congressional delegation to monitor the implementation of the USA PATRIOT Act, the Homeland Security Act, and the associated orders and rules of the executive branch, and actively work for the repeal of the parts of the Acts and Orders that violate civil rights and civil liberties.
We ask the Town Clerk to notify the above authorities of our action in this regard.
