RESOLUTION CONCERNING CIVIL LIBERTIES IN VASHON-MAURY ISLAND
The Vashon-Maury Island Community Council, representing the citizens of Vashon and Maury Islands in unincorporated King County, Washington, fully supports the United States Constitution and its first ten amendments, the Bill of Rights, as being essential to the health of democracy. The fundamental rights and liberties guaranteed therein are essential to the well-being of the citizens and community of Vashon-Maury Island.
Several acts and orders recently enacted at the Federal level, including sections of the USA PATRIOT Act and several Executive Orders, now threaten the following fundamental rights and liberties:
· Freedom of speech, assembly, and privacy
· The rights to counsel and due process in judicial proceedings
· Protection from unreasonable searches and seizures
These rights and liberties are guaranteed by the United States Constitution and its Bill of Rights, as well as Article I of the Washington State Constitution.
Therefore, The Vashon-Maury Island Community Council, acting in the spirit of our community, hereby requests that the Metropolitan King County Council resolve the following:
1. Local law enforcement continue to preserve residents' freedom of speech, assembly, and privacy; rights to counsel and due process in judicial proceedings; and protection from unreasonable searches and seizures 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. The U.S. Attorney's Office and the Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation regularly and publicly disclose 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;
3. Our United States Congressman and Senators 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 Washington State and the United States.
Motion was passed. 70 Yes, 0 No, 4 Abstentions, 7 voting Not Appropriate