[Peace-discuss] U-C Ban the USA Patriot Act?

[Sandra Ahten]

Some cities have passed resolutions that opposed parts of the USA Patriot 
Act?  Should/ Could AWARE be the driving force behind this happening in 
Urbana and Champaign?
Sandra



USA Patriot Act under fire from SC City Council

By Halie Johnson
The Alarm! Newspaper

Santa Cruz City Council voted unanimously to pass a resolution opposing 
parts of the USA PATRIOT Act. Councilmember Mark Primack expressed his 
support for the resolution saying that parts of the USA PATRIOT Act were 
sure to cause distrust and weaken any community  “from the ground up.” In 
adopting this resolution, Santa Cruz is joining 13 other cities across the 
country that voiced their opposition to the Federal Government’s sweeping 
“anti-terrorist” legislation. It was said that twenty-two other cities are 
currently considering similar resolutions.

In short, the resolution affirms City Council’s opposition to those parts of 
the USA PATRIOT Act and certain Justice Department directives and executive 
orders that weaken or destroy civil rights and liberties.  The resolution 
calls for the protection of those rights contained in the Constitution. The 
resolution also requests that Congress “monitor the implementation of the 
USA PATRIOT Act, directives from Attorney John Ashcroft, and executive 
orders cited herein and actively work for the repeal of those parts of the 
USA PATRIOT Act and the withdrawal of those Justice Department directives 
and executive orders that violate fundamental rights and liberties.”

Members of the public spoke mostly in favor of the resolution; many 
applauded City Council for what they saw as a bold statement. Others 
complained that Council should not be investing energy in adopting a 
“foreign policy,” but should be making local issues top priority.

The Mayor will send a copy of the resolution to President Bush, local 
Congressional representatives and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights 
in Geneva, Switzerland.

To view the USA PATRIOT Act in it’s entirety go to 
http://www.epic.org/privacy/terrorism/hr3162.html or 
http://www.ins.usdoj.gov/graphics/lawsregs/patriot.pdf. To contact Santa 
Cruz City Council email, citycouncil at ci.santa-cruz.ca.us or call (831) 
420-5020.

Except where noted otherwise, this material may be copied and distributed 
freely in whole or in part by anyone except where used for commercial 
purposes or by government agencies.










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