Fifty Second Legislative Council of the Associated Students
Begun and held at the university of California at Santa Barbara, in the City of Santa Barbara on the eleventh day of July, two thousand two, in the fifty second year of our association.
A Resolution
To oppose the USA PATRIOT Act and ""Patriot II"" Act
Whereas: the United States Congress passed the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act (USA PATRIOT Act; Public Law 107-56) on October 26, 2001; and
Whereas: The University of California, Santa Barbara and its students are governed by the United States Constitution, including the Bill of Rights; and
Whereas: Fundamental rights granted by the United States Constitution are threatened by actions taken at the federal level, notably by the passage of sections of the USA PATRIOT Act, the Homeland Security Act and several Executive Orders which, among other things:
- Violate the First Amendment to the Constitution by limiting the freedom of association and assembly;
- Violate the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution through the expansion of the government's ability to wiretap telephones, monitor e-mail communications, survey medical, financial, and students records, and secretly enter homes and offices without customary administrative oversight or without showing of probable cause;
- Give law enforcement expanded authority to obtain library records, and prohibit librarians from informing patrons of monitoring or information requests;
- Grant potential unchecked powers to the Attorney General and the U.S. Secretary of State to designate legal domestic groups as ""terrorist organizations"", while lifting administrative regulations against covert, surveillance counter-intelligence operations by the F.B.I. that in the past targeted domestic groups and individuals;
- Violate the Fifth, Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution by establishing secret military tribunals, and in subjecting citizens and non-citizens to indefinite detention even when they have not been allowed an attorney, brought to trial, or even charged with a crime; Authorized eavesdropping on confidential communications between lawyers and their clients in federal custody;
Whereas: the preservation of civil rights and civil liberties is a pillar of American society and is essential to the well-being of any democracy, particularly during times of conflict when such rights and liberties; and
Whereas: The University of California, Santa Barbara has a diverse population, including non-citizens, whose contributions to the campus are vital to its character and function; and
Therefore, let it be resolved that the Associated Students of the University of California, Santa Barbara has been, and remains, firmly committed to the protection of civil rights and civil liberties for all and affirms its commitment to embody democracy and embrace, defend and uphold the inalienable rights and fundamental liberties granted under the constitution of the United States;
Therefore, let it be further resolved that the campus administration of the University of California, Santa Barbara and University of California Police department continue to preserve and uphold the students' freedom of speech, assembly, association, and privacy, the right to counsel and due process in judicial proceedings, and protection from unreasonable searches and seizures;
Therefore, let it be further resolved that the Associated Students of the University of California, Santa Barbara urge the City of Santa Barbara, California to support a resolution that strengthens civil liberties for all of its residents;
Therefore, let it be further resolved that the Associated Students of the University of California at Santa Barbara urge their congressional representatives to act in accordance with this resolution and oppose further infringements upon the civil liberties of all Americans.