Whereas, the Bill of Rights of the United States Constitution and the Constitution of New Hampshire guarantee those living in the United Sates 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:
A. 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 the Attorney General and the Secretary of State the power to designate domestic groups as ""terrorist organizations"";
- and grants the FBI broad access to medical, mental health, financial, library, educational and other records of and about individuals without having to show evidence of a crime and without a court order; and
B. 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, this law and these Executive Orders particularly target foreign nationals and people of Middle Eastern and South Asian descent, but could effect any one of us in the U.S.A. acting and speaking legally in opposing government policy; and
Whereas, the Executive Order on secret military tribunals also undermines the U.S. government's ability to denounce atrocities carried out in secret military tribunals elsewhere in the world; and
Whereas, several law enforcement officials, including previous heads of the FBI, have decried the USA PATRIOT Act and these Executive Orders as unnecessary to the prosecution of, and protection from, terrorism;
Now, Therefore be it resolved, that we the citizens of Marlborough, New Hampshire, acting in the spirit of the U.S. Constitution, the N.H. Constitution, and our community, do hereby call upon our State and Federal Officials:
(1) To continue to preserve residents' freedom of speech, religion, assembly, and privacy; rights to counsel and due process in judicial proceedings; and protection from unreasonable searches and seizures, and to participate, to the extent legally permissible, in law-enforcement activities that threaten civil rights and civil liberties of the people of Marlborough, such as surveillance, wiretaps, and securing of private information, which the Act and Orders authorize; even if requested or authorized to infringe upon these rights by federal law enforcement acting under new powers granted by the USA PATRIOT Act or orders of the Executive Branch;
(2) When acting within the Town of Marlborough, to work in accordance with the U.S. and N.H. Constitution and the policies of the Marlborough Police Department, and in cooperation with the Department, not engage in or permit detentions without charges or racial profiling in law enforcement;
(3) To report to the Marlborough Board of Selectmen regularly and publicly the extent to and manner in which they have acted under the USA PATRIOT Act, new Executive Orders, or COINTELPRO-type regulations, including disclosing the names of any detainees held in New Hampshire or any Marlborough residents detained elsewhere;
(4) Including our United States Congressman and Senators, to monitor the implementation of the Act and Orders cited herein and actively work for the repeal of the parts of that Act and those Orders that violate fundamental rights and liberties as stated in the Constitutions of the State of New Hampshire and the United States of America