[Peace-discuss] Fwd: [ALACOUN:10936] Fwd: Text of NY Res NO 909 - Anti-Patriot
Act (BORDC)
Al Kagan
akagan at uiuc.edu
Sun Dec 14 14:54:35 CST 2003
>Date: Sun, 14 Dec 2003 11:34:01 -0500
>To: ALA Council List <alacoun at ala1.ala.org>
>From: Mark Rosenzweig <iskra at earthlink.net>
>Subject: [ALACOUN:10936] Fwd: Text of NY Res NO 909 - Anti-Patriot Act (BORDC)
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>NYC's Anti USAPA legislation. Please examine the full text below.
>Mark Rosenzweig
>>
>>
>>
>>Res. No. 909
>>
>>Resolution calling upon federal, state and local officials, and upon New York
>>City agencies and institutions, to affirm and uphold civil rights and civil
>>liberties.
>>
>>By Council Members Perkins, Barron, Boyland, López, Monserrate, Seabrook,
>>Vann, Yassky, Baez, Clarke, Comrie, Gerson, James, Jennings, Koppell, Liu,
>>Martinez, Quinn, Reed, Rivera, Sanders, Jackson, Brewer, Espada, Moskowitz,
>>Reyna, Serrano, deBlasio, Weprin, Stewart, Boyland, Foster, Gonzalez, and
>>Dilan.
>>
>> Whereas, The protection of civil rights and civil liberties is essential
>>to the well being of a free and democratic society; and
>>
>> Whereas, The City of New York has a diverse population, including
>>immigrants and students, whose contributions to the city are vital to its
>>economy, culture and civic character; and
>>
>> Whereas, The members of the Council of the City of New York believe that
>>there is no inherent conflict between national security and the preservation
>>of liberty -- Americans can be both safe and free; and
>>
>> Whereas, Government security measures that
>>undermine fundamental rights do
>>damage to the American institutions and values that the residents of the City
>>of New York hold dear; and
>>
>> Whereas, Federal, state and local governments should protect the public
>>from terrorist attacks, such as those that
>>occurred on September 11, 2001, but
>>should do so in a rational and deliberative fashion in order to ensure that
>>security measures enhance the public safety without impairing constitutional
>>rights or infringing on civil liberties; and
>>
>> Whereas, Federal policies adopted since September 11, 2001, including
>>provisions in the USA PATRIOT Act (Public Law 107-56), the Homeland Security
>>Act of 2002, and in related executive orders,
>>regulations and actions threaten
>>fundamental rights and liberties by:
>>
>> (a) authorizing the indefinite
>>incarceration of non-citizens based on mere
>>suspicion, and the indefinite incarceration of citizens designated as "enemy
>>combatants" without access to counsel or meaningful recourse to the federal
>>courts;
>>
>> (b) limiting the traditional authority of federal courts to curb law
>>enforcement abuse of electronic surveillance in anti-terrorism investigations
>>and ordinary criminal investigations;
>>
>> (c) expanding the authority of federal agents to conduct so-called "sneak
>>and peek" or "black bag" searches, in which the subject of the search warrant
>>is unaware that his property has been searched;
>>
>> (d) granting law enforcement and intelligence agencies broad access to
>>personal medical, financial, library and education records with little if any
>>judicial oversight;
>>
>> (e) chilling constitutionally protected speech through overbroad
>>definitions of "terrorism";
>>
>> (f) driving a wedge between immigrant communities and the police that
>>protect them by encouraging involvement of state and local police in
>>enforcement of federal immigration law; and
>>
>> (g) permitting the FBI to conduct surveillance of religious services,
>>internet chatrooms, political demonstrations,
>>and other public meetings of any
>>kind without having any evidence that a crime has been or may be committed;
>>and
>>
>> Whereas, These new powers pose a particular
>>threat to the civil rights and
>>liberties of the residents of our city who are or who appear to be Arab,
>>Muslim or of South Asian descent; and
>>
>> Whereas, The federal government has drafted new legislation entitled the
>>Domestic Security Enhancement Act (DSEA) (also known as PATRIOT II), which
>>contains sweeping new law enforcement and intelligence gathering powers, many
>>of which are not related to terrorism, that would further compromise
>>constitutional rights, and further undermine
>>our government's unique system of
>>checks and balances; and
>>
>> Whereas, More than 100 communities throughout the country have enacted
>>resolutions that reaffirm support for civil rights and civil liberties and
>>that demand accountability from law enforcement agencies regarding the
>>exercise of the extraordinary new powers referred to herein; now, therefore,
>>be it
>>
>> Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York calls upon federal,
>>state and local officials, and upon New York City agencies and institutions,
>>to affirm and uphold civil rights and civil liberties; and be it further
>>
>> Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York:
>>
>>Affirms its strong commitment to support the rights and liberties promised in
>>the Constitution and Bill of Rights, and to
>>oppose measures that infringe upon
>>those rights and liberties; and
>>
>>Affirms its strong support for the rights of immigrants and opposes measures
>>that single out individuals for legal scrutiny or enforcement activity based
>>solely on their country of origin; and be it further
>>
>> Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York directs the Police
>>Department of the City of New York to:
>>
>> (a) refrain from engaging in the
>>surveillance of individuals or groups of
>>individuals based on their participation in activities protected by the First
>>Amendment, such as political advocacy or the practice of a religion;
>>
>> (b) refrain from collecting or maintaining information about the
>>political, religious or social views, associations or activities of any
>>individual, group, association, organization, corporation, business or
>>partnership, whether such information is obtained by NYPD employees acting
>>alone or in conjunction with state or federal law enforcement officials,
>>unless that information directly relates to an investigation of criminal
>>activities, and unless there are reasonable grounds to suspect the subject of
>>the information is or may be involved in criminal conduct;
>>
>> (c) refrain from engaging in racial, religious or ethnic profiling by not
>>relying solely on race, religion, ethnicity or national origin as the basis
>>for subjecting an individual or group to investigatory activities;
>>
>> (d) refrain from participating in the enforcement of federal immigration
>>laws;
>>
>> (d) refrain from assisting federal authorities in obtaining custody of
>>individuals absent assurances that those individuals will not be subjected to
>>military detention, secret detention, secret immigration proceedings, or
>>detention without access to counsel;
>>
>> (e) refrain from deploying unreliable biometric identification technology
>>in the City of New York; and
>>
>> (f) refrain from establishing a network of general surveillance video
>>cameras unless the video surveillance network is subject to regulations that
>>limit the number of hours that recorded material containing no evidence of
>>criminal acts may be retained before it is recycled or erased; limit
>>distribution of and access to the recorded material; require the installation
>>of signage that notifies persons when they are under videotape surveillance;
>>and that create a public registry, with an
>>appropriate governmental agency, of
>>all video surveillance cameras located in public spaces; and
>>
>> (g) refrain from participating in "sneak and peak" searches, pursuant to
>>Section 213 of the Patriot Act, unless the search is authorized and conducted
>>in accordance with New York State law;
>>
>> (h) refrain from establishing or maintaining an antiterrorism reporting
>>system, such as the proposed federal Terrorism Information and Prevention
>>System (TIPS), that creates an electronic record on an individual, which is
>>then stored in a database, based upon unsubstantiated information that is
>>insufficient to establish suspicion of criminal activity; and
>>
>> (i) refrain from the practice of stopping drivers or pedestrians for the
>>purpose of scrutinizing their identification documents when such stops are
>>based solely upon race, religion, ethnicity or national origin, without a
>>founded suspicion of criminal activity; and
>>
>> (j) report to the City Council any request
>>by federal authorities that, if
>>granted, would cause agencies of the City of New York to exercise powers or
>>cooperate in the exercise of powers in apparent violation of any city
>>ordinance or the laws or Constitution of this State or the United States; and
>>be it further
>>
>> Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York directs public
>>libraries within the City of New York to post in a prominent place within the
>>library a notice to library users that reads as follows: "WARNING: Under
>>Section 215 of the federal USA PATRIOT Act
>>(Public Law 107-56), records of the
>>books and other materials you borrow from this library may be obtained by
>>federal agents. This provision prohibits librarians from informing you if
>>records about you have been obtained by federal agents. Questions about this
>>policy should be directed to: Attorney General John Ashcroft, Department of
>>Justice, Washington, DC 20530"; and be it further
>>
>> Resolved, That the Council of the City of
>>New York shall seek periodically
>>from federal authorities the following information in a form that facilitates
>>an assessment of the effect of federal
>>anti-terrorism efforts on the residents
>>of the City of New York:
>>
>> (a) the names of all residents of the City of New York who have been
>>arrested or otherwise detained by federal
>>authorities as a result of terrorism
>>investigations since September 11, 2001; the location of each detainee; the
>>circumstances that led to each detention; the charges, if any, lodged against
>>each detainee; the name of counsel, if any, representing each detainee;
>>
>> (b) the number of search warrants that have been executed in the City of
>>New York without notice to the subject of the warrant pursuant to section 213
>>of the USA PATRIOT Act;
>>
>> (c) the nature and scope of electronic surveillance carried out in the
>>City of New York under powers granted in the USA PATRIOT Act;
>>
>> (d) the nature and scope of initiatives undertaken by federal authorities
>>to monitor political meetings, religious gatherings or other activities
>>protected by the First Amendment within the City of New York;
>>
>> (e) the number of times education records have been obtained from public
>>schools and institutions of higher learning in the City of New York under
>>section 507 of the USA PATRIOT Act;
>>
>> (f) the number of times library records have been obtained from libraries
>>in the City of New York under section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act; and
>>
>> (g) the number of times that records of the books purchased by store
>>patrons have been obtained from bookstores in the City of New York under
>>section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act; and be it further
>>
>> Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York shall publish and
>>distribute no less than once every six months a summary of the information
>>obtained pursuant to the preceding paragraph and, based on such information
>>and any other relevant information, an assessment of the effect of federal
>>anti- terrorism efforts on the residents of the City of New York; and be it
>>further
>>
>> Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York shall transmit a copy
>>of this resolution to Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton and Senator Charles
>>Schumer, and to the members of the New York delegation in the House of
>>Representatives, accompanied by a letter urging them to:
>>
>> (a) support Congressional efforts to assess
>>the impact of the PATRIOT Act;
>>
>> (b) monitor federal anti-terrorism tactics and seek repeal of those
>>provisions in the USA PATRIOT Act and other laws and regulations that unduly
>>infringe on civil rights and liberties;
>>
>> (c) ensure that provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act "sunset" in accordance
>>with the provisions of the Act; and
>>
>> (d) take a lead in Congressional action to prohibit passage of the
>>Domestic Security Enhancement Act, known as "Patriot II"; and be it further
>>
>> Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York shall transmit a copy
>>of this resolution to Governor George Pataki, Senate Majority Leader Joseph
>>Bruno and and the members of the State Legislature [Senate : : Assembly],
>>accompanied by a letter urging them to ensure that state anti-terrorism laws
>>and policies are implemented in a manner that does not infringe on civil
>>rights and liberties; and be it further
>>
>> Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York shall transmit a copy
>>of this resolution to President Bush and Attorney General Ashcroft.
>>
>>http://www.nycbordc.org/resolution0909-2003.html
>>
>>Mary Beaty UN NGO American Humanist Association
>>777 United Nations Plaza, NY 10017 http://cebo.org
>>---------------------------------------------------
>>Quis Custodiet ipsos custodes?
--
Al Kagan
African Studies Bibliographer and Professor of Library Administration
Africana Unit, Room 328
University of Illinois Library
1408 W. Gregory Drive
Urbana, IL 61801, USA
tel. 217-333-6519
fax. 217-333-2214
e-mail. akagan at uiuc.edu
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