WHEREAS, in response to the destruction of the World Trade Center towers (WTC) in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington D.C. by a terrorist act on September 11, 2001, the U.S. Congress passed the USA Patriot Act and the U.S. Justice Department through the Attorney General revised its internal orders restricting procedures for investigation and detention; and
WHEREAS, the Council of Commissioners (Council) supports programs to prevent such terrorist violence in the future and to protect the people from the consequences of such future attacks; and
WHEREAS, the Council does not think it necessary of desirable that such programs should diminish civil rights that were enjoyed in America prior to the destruction of the WTC and the Pentagon; and
WHEREAS, the protection of civil rights and civil liberties is essential to the well being of a free and democratic society; and
WHEREAS, the City and County of Butte-Silver Bow, Montana (City-County) recognizes the Constitution of the United States of America, its Bill of Rights, and the Constitution of the State of Montana as the supreme laws of the land, which our elected City-County officials and the law enforcement officers by their oath of office have sworn to uphold; and
WHEREAS, the City-County fully supports the men and women in the armed forces who defend and protect these cherished rights, including those who have made the supreme sacrifice doing do; and
WHEREAS, the City-County affirms its strong opposition to terrorism, but believes that government can protect public safety without impairing constitutional rights and civil liberties; and
WHEREAS, certain federal policies adopted since September 11, 2001, including provisions of the U.S.A. Patriot Act (Public Law 107-56) and related federal actions duly infringe upon fundamental rights and liberties of the citizens and visitors of the City-County; and
WHEREAS, these new policies include the power to authorize the indefinite incarceration of non-citizens based on mere suspicion of terrorist activity, and the indefinite incarceration of citizens designated as “enemy combatants” without access to counsel or meaningful recourse to the federal courts; limitation on the traditional authority of federal courts to curb law enforcement abuse of electronic surveillance in anti-terrorism investigations and ordinary criminal investigations; the expansion of the authority of federal agents to conduct so-called “sneak and peek” or “black bag” searches, in which the subject of the search warrant is unaware that his property has been searched; grants to law enforcement and intelligence agencies broad access to personal medical, financial, library and educational records with little if any judicial oversight; and
WHEREAS, these policies may undermine trust between immigrant communities and the government, and in particular, pose a threat to the civil rights and liberties of the residents of our community who are or who appear to be Arab, Muslim or of South Asian descent; and
WHEREAS, the federal government has drafted new legislation entitled the Domestic Security Enhancement Act (DSEA) (also known as Patriot II), which may further compromise constitutional rights and our government’s unique system of checks and balances; and
WHEREAS, many states and communities throughout the country have enacted resolutions that reaffirm support for civil rights and civil liberties and that demand accountability from law enforcement agencies regarding the exercise of the extraordinary new powers referred to herein; and
WHEREAS, the members of the Council have taken an oath of office which includes the protection and defense of these rights and liberties of our citizens and visitors.
NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF COMMISSIONERS OF THE CITY AND COUNTY OF BUTTE-SILVER BOW, STATE OF MONTANA:
SECTION 1: That the Council of Commissioners of the City and County of Butte-Silver Bow,
Montana (Council) does hereby resolve that the City and County of Butte-Silver Bow, Montana (City-County) supports fully the Constitution of the United States, its Bill of Rights, and the Constitution of the State of Montana, and requests that the Congress of the United States repeal all sections of the U.S.A. Patriot Act which diminish or take away those rights guaranteed in the Bill of Rights.
SECTION 2: That the City-County reaffirms its work to preserve the people’s freedom of speech, religion, assembly and privacy; rights to counsel and due process in judicial proceedings; and protection from unreasonable searches and seizures..
SECTION 3: That the Council affirms its support of law enforcement practices currently followed by the City-County, including how the City-County:
a. maintains public records on the names and initial charges of those detained and/or arrested by the City/County;
b. refrains from engaging in the surveillance of individuals or groups of individuals based on their participation in activities protected by the First Amendment, such as political advocacy or the practice of a religion, except when there are reasonable grounds to suspect the subject of the surveillance is or may be involved in criminal activity unrelated to or beyond the activities protected by the First Amendment;
c. avoids using race, religion, ethnicity or national origin as factors in selecting which individuals to subject to investigatory activities except when seeking to apprehend a specific suspect whose race, religion, ethnicity or national origin is part of the description of the suspect;
d. refrains from using City-County resources to enforce federal immigration laws which are the responsibility of the federal government, except when an alien has been detained or arrested on suspicion of a criminal offense;
e. refrains from collecting or maintaining information about the political, religions, or social views, associations, or activities of any individual, group, association organization, corporation, business, or partnership unless such information directly relates to an investigation of criminal activities, and there are reasonable grounds to suspect the subject of the information is or may be involved in criminal conduct;
f. has not established a general surveillance network of video cameras deploying facial recognition technology or other biometric identification technology;
g. provides notice of the execution of a search warrant simultaneous with the search of the property subject to such a warrant;
h. encourages citizens to report crime and observable results of crime, through organizations such as Crimestoppers, but does not recruit members of the general public to spy on their neighbors, colleagues, or customers, such as the proposed federal Operation TIPS; and
i. refrains from stopping drivers or pedestrians for the purpose of scrutinizing their identification documents without particularized suspicion of criminal activity, except under those limited circumstances specifically authorized under Montana law.
SECTION 4: That the Council requests the Sheriff to report to the Council at the next regular meeting subsequent to any change in the law enforcement practices listed in the previous section, as well as any requests by federal authorities that, if granted, would cause agencies of the City-County to exercise powers or cooperate in the exercise of powers in apparent violation of those law enforcement practices, of any City-County ordinance, or of the laws of Constitution of this state; and
SECTION 5: That the Council requests that public schools and institutions of higher learning within the City-County provide notice to individuals whose education records have been obtained by law enforcement agents pursuant to Section 507 of the USA PATRIOT Act; and
SECTION 6: That the Council requests that any public library within the City-County post a notice to library users, in a prominent place within the library, as follows: “WARNING: Under Section 215 of the federal USA PATRIOT Act (Public Law 107-56), records of the books and other materials you borrow from this library may be obtained by federal agents. That federal law prohibits librarians from informing you if records about you have been obtained by federal agents. Questions about this policy should be directed to the United States Attorney General, Department of Justice, Washington, D.C. 20530; and
SECTION 7: That the Council requests the chief executive to seek bi-annually from federal authorities the following information in a form that facilitates an assessment of the effect of federal anti-terrorism efforts on the residents of the City-County:
a. the number of all persons who have been arrested or otherwise detained within the City-County by federal authorities as a result of terrorism investigations since September 11, 2001; the name of each detainee, the most recent location of each detainee; the circumstances that led to each detention; the charges, if any, lodged against each detainee; and the name of counsel, if any, representing each detainee;
b. the number of search warrants that have been executed in the City-County without notice to the subject of each warrant pursuant to Section 213 of the USA PATRIOT Act;
c. the extent of electronic surveillance carried out in the City-County under powers granted in the USA PATRIOT Act;
d. the number of instances that federal authorities have monitored political meetings, religious gatherings, or other activities within the City-County that are protected by the First Amendment;
e. the number of times education records have been obtained from public schools and institutions of higher learning in the City-County under Section 507 of the USA PATRIOT Act;
f. the number of times library records have been obtained from libraries in the City-County under Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act; and
g. the number of times that records of the books purchased by store patrons have been obtained from bookstores in the City-County under Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act.
SECTION 8: That the Council requests the chief executive to transmit to the Council a summary of the information obtained pursuant to the preceding section and, based on such information and any other relevant information, an assessment of the effect of federal antiterrorism efforts on the residents of the City-County, including, within three (3) years, a review of the need for requests made pursuant to the preceding section.
SECTION 9: That the Council directs the Clerk and Recorder to transmit a copy of this Resolution to Montana’s elected officials in Congress, to the Governor and to members of the Montana Legislature representing the City-County, to President George W. Bush, and to Attorney General John Ashcroft.
SECTION 10: That the Council supports the immediate repeat of those provisions of the U.S.A. Patriot Act that are unconstitutional, and opposes any proposed enhancements of the U.S.A. Patriot Act, such as those contained within the U.S. Justice Department’s draft “Domestic Security Enhancement Act (DSEA) (also known as PATRIOT II) that further diminish or take away rights guaranteed in the Bill of Rights.
SECTION 11: That this Resolution shall be in full force and effect from and after its passage and approval.