Windham, VT community resolution

Document Date: March 6, 2003

Town of Windham

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

Article 35: To see if the Voters of the Town of Windham, will adopt the following Resolution:

Whereas, the Bill of Rights of the United States Constitution and the Constitution of Vermont guarantee those living in the United States 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

  1. 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 and seizures;
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 sensitive medical, mental health, library, financial, and educational records about individuals without having to show evidence of a crime and without a court order; and

  1. The HOMELAND SECURITY ACT, which

Increases the government's ability to secretly collect information without court orders or other checks; and

  1. 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

THEREFORE

Resolution calling on local government to defend state and federal Constitutions from threats imposed by the USA PATRIOT Act, the Homeland Security Act, and orders and rules of the executive branch:

We call on our local government to act in the spirit of our state and federal Constitutions by asking local and state police, the local U.S. Attorney's office, and the FBI to:

  1. Report to citizens regularly and publicly the extent to and manner in which they have acted under the USA PATRIOT Act, the Homeland Security Act, and orders and rules of the executive branch, or COINTELPRO-type regulations including disclosing the names of any detainees;
  2. Not participate, to the extent legally permissible, in law enforcement activities that threaten civil rights and civil liberties such as surveillance, wiretaps, and securing of private information, which the Acts and Orders authorize;
  3. End racial profiling in law enforcement and detentions without charges; and

We call on our local government to

  1. Openly work for the repeal of the parts of the Acts and Orders that violate civil rights and civil liberties

Ask the Town Clerk to notify the above authorities of our action in this regard.

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