Warren, VT community resolution

Approved by the voters at the Town Meeting, March 4, 2003

RESOLUTION, calling on local governments to encourage and promote defense of the Constitution, as the United States undertakes the difficult task of keeping the nation free from the threats of international terrorism; and requesting that our Congressional delegation work to repeal those provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act that violate the Bill of Rights and undermine those principles of fairness, equity, and due process that have kept us strong and free as a people, and which constitute the essence of true patriotism.

WHEREAS, in response to the tragic events of September 11, 2001, the United States Congress passed the USA PATRIOT Act (Public Law 107-56), which was signed into law by President George W. Bush on October 26, 2001; and

WHEREAS, many residents of Warren and other communities across the nation are concerned that the USA PATRIOT Act threatens our civil rights and liberties by:

1. greatly expanding the government's ability to conduct secret searches (Sec. 213);

2. all but eliminating judicial oversight of telephone and Internet surveillance (Sec. 216);

3. granting unchecked power to the Attorney General and the Secretary of State the to designate domestic groups as ""terrorist organizations"" (Sec. 411);

4. allowing the Attorney General to subject non-citizens to indefinite detention or deportation even if they have not committed a crime (Secs. 411 and 412);

5. giving law enforcement officials broad access to sensitive medical, mental health, library, financial, and educational records about individuals without first showing probable cause or evidence of a crime(Secs. 215, 218, 358, 508);

6. placing the CIA back in the business of spying on Americans (Secs. 203 and 901); and

Whereas the HOMELAND SECURITY ACT:

1. increases secret survillance and reduces privacy protections

2. allows the federal government to maintain extensive files on all Americans without court order or probable cause or evidence of a crime

3. expands the ability of government to access emails and information about an individual's Internet activity without judicial supervision, even when such a disclosure is not reasonable and does not deal with an imminent threat of injury

4. provides exemptions to the Freedom of Information Act and the Sunshine Act, decreasing public access to information regarding government proceedings.

Whereas our civil rights and liberties are further threatened by orders and rules of the executive branch that

1. establish secret military tribunals for terrorism suspects (Military Order, Nov. 13, 2001);

2. permit wiretapping of conversations between federal prisoners and their lawyers (28 CFR 201.3);

3. revise Justice Department guidelines against illegal COINTELPRO-type operations-covert activities that in the past targeted domestic groups and individuals (Attorney General's guidelines and procedures relating to criminal investigations and national security, issued May 30, 2002); and

4. limit the disclosure of public documents and records under the Freedom of Information Act (""Memorandum for Heads of All Federal Departmens and Agencies,"" Attorney General John Ashcroft, Oct 12, 2001, http://usdoj.gov/oip/foiapost/2001foipost19.htm); and

California; Boulder, Colorado; Denver, Colorado; Alachua County, Florida; Amherst, Massachusetts; Cambridge, Massachusetts; Leverett, Massachusetts; Northampton, Massachussetts; Takoma Park, Maryland' Ann Arbor, Michigan; Santa Fe, New Mexico; Carrboro, North Carolina; Madison, Wisconsin; and Burlington, Vermont have passed resolutions opposing those parts of the USA PATRIOT Act, the Homeland Security Act and associated orders and rules that threaten our civil liberties; and

WHEREAS, librarians from the Kellogg-Hubbard Library in Montpelier, the Fletcher Free Library in Burlingon, the University of Vermont, Community College of Vermont, and other local libraries are concerned that the USA PATRIOT Act undermines the constitutionally guaranteed right to read and access information without governmental intrusion or interference; and

WHEREAS, the USA PATRIOT Act and associated orders and rules of the executive branch have been used to target foreign nationals and people of Middle Eastern and South Asian descent, and also threaten the rights of any U.S. Citizen acting and speaking legally in opposition to government policy; and

WHEREAS, the Town of Warren is committed to protecting and upholding the civil rights and civil liberties o fall persons in the Town, as expressed in the United States and Vermont Constitutions,

NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS RESOLVED, that the Town of Warren affirms the civil rights granted to all of its residents-U.S. Citizens and citizens of other nations alike-in accordance with the Bill of Rights and the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution; and

IT IS FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Warren Selectboard request the Vermont State Police Department and other law enforcement agencies to uphold its policy of respecting and protecting freedoms of speech, religion, assembly, and privacy; upholding the advancing the presumption of innocence; and acting at all times with due respect for the equality of all people, irrespective of race, religion, ethnic identity, or national origin, and in no event engaging in racial profiling for any purpose; and

IT IS FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Town of Warren request that federal and state law enforcement officials acting within the Town abide by the Department's policies prohibiting racial profiling and detentions without charges, and that such officials regularly and publicly report to the Town the extend and manner in which they have acted under the USA PATRIOT Act, the Homeland Security Act or the associated orders and rules of the executive branch, including names of any detainees held in the region or any Warren residents detained elsewhere; and

IT IS FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Town of Warren request that Vermont's Congressional delegation monitor the implementation of the USA PATRIOT Act, Homeland Security Act, and the associated orders and rules of the executive branch and actively work for the repeal of those portions of the Act and those orders and rules that violate the rights and liberties guaranteed by the United States Constitution; and

IT IS FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Town Clerk communicate this resolution to Vermont's Congressional delegation, the Governor and Attorney General of the State of Vermont, the local U.S. Attorney's office, the local office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Vermont State Police.