WHEREAS, the Constitution and Bill of Rights state that Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances; and

WHEREAS, in response to the events of September 11, 2001; the U S. Patriot Act (HR. 3162) was passed by Congress on October 26, 2001 without Committee hearings and with limited debate; and

WHEREAS, many in Congress and in the Judiciary now express reservations about certain provisions of the Act that reduce freedoms delegated to the people; and

WHEREAS, the Act expands terrorism laws to include ""domestic terrorism" which could subject political organizations to surveillance, wiretapping, harassment, and criminal action for protected political advocacy; and

WHEREAS, the Act expands the ability of law enforcement to conduct secret searches, gives them wide powers of phone and internet surveillance, and access to highly personal medical, financial, mental health, and student records with minimal judicial oversight; and

WHEREAS, the Act allows FBI agents to investigate American citizens for criminal matters without probable cause to believe a crime has been committed if they say it is for ""intelligence matters"", and

WHEREAS, the Act permits non-citizens to be jailed based on mere suspicion and to be denied re-admission to the US for engaging in free speech, and students suspected of no crime may be detained indefinitely in six month increments arguably without meaningful judicial review; and

WHEREAS, the City of Newark is a diverse community whose citizens may be unjustly abused as a consequence of the actions taken against them pursuant to certain provisions of the Patriot Act

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the City of Newark, while supporting the United States in its campaign to fight global terrorism, insists that this fight not be waged at the expense of the fundamental civil liberties and Constitutionally protected rights of the people of the United States of America, and
 
BE IT FURTHER RBSOLVED, that the Newark City Council transmits this resolution to the Governor and Attorney General, members of both Houses of the General Assembly as well as to Delaware's United States Senators and Representative as a statement of the will of the people of Newark in questioning certain provisions of the Patriot Act that abrogate the fundamental civil liberties and Constitutionally protected rights of the people of the United States and, encourage our congressional delegation to clarify and amend those provisions.

RESOLVED at a Regular Meeting on February 2, 2004.

VOTE: 5 to l.