posted 02-09-2004 11:29 PM            

"N.Y. City Council Passes Anti-Patriot Act Measure";
page 11 of Wash Post; not on CNN; not in NY Times (?)
Posted by: Admin on Saturday, February 07, 2004 - 11:09 PM GMT

It's all over the blogs, but underreported in the mainstream media. The Washington Post has a nice Feb. 5, 2004 article on it, albeit on page 11 (the Post chose to run two front page articles that day on the Democratic primary, as opposed to the more typical one story):

New York City, site of the country's most horrific terrorist attack, Wednesday became the latest in a long list of cities and towns that have formally opposed the expanded investigatory powers granted to law enforcement agencies under the USA Patriot Act.

The New York City Council approved a resolution condemning the law, enacted by Congress six weeks after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, with a voice vote in its chambers a few blocks from the gaping hole at Ground Zero.

"The Patriot Act is really unpatriotic, it undermines our civil rights and civil liberties," said council member Bill Perkins (D-Manhattan), the bill's sponsor. "We never give up our rights that's what makes us Americans."

posted 02-09-2004 11:32 PM            

St. Paul passes resolution condemning PATRIOT Act
Monday 09 February @ 16:05:45
by Mark Connor

The St. Paul City Council recently joined Minneapolis and more than 200 cities that have passed resolutions condemning the 2001 USA PATRIOT Act. The resolution was passed with a 6 to 1 vote, the only dissenter being Ward 6 member Dan Bostrom. The wording of the three and one-half page resolution reveals the specific concerns the Council has with how the legislation affects St. Paul residents, as well as how it encroaches on the city’s ability to run its own affairs without undue interference from the federal government. Councilmembers Kathy Lantry, Ward 7, and Dave Thune, Ward 2, spoke with Pulse about the resolution late last week.

“I think if people really took a look at some of the aspects of the PATRIOT Act and what rights they’re giving up, they would be appalled,” Lantry said, explaining her motivations for signing the resolution. A grassroots organization called The Bill of Rights Defense Committee first presented the resolution to the City Council more than a year ago. Some Councilmembers found the language in parts of the original document problematic, but Patrick Harris, Ward 3 Councilmember, worked on a revision of it, eventually coming up with the version that passed, which is more similar to a resolution written by the National League of Cities. “That’s how democracy works,” Lantry said. “The general public decides what they want to have made an issue. I never think we should underestimate the force that a bunch of small entities getting together can have.”

While emphasizing their recognition of the need for effective measures against terrorism, Lantry and Thune both gave specific examples of the aspects of the PATRIOT ACT that trouble them the most.

A provision of the act requires librarians to turn over records of what reading material a library patron checks out when a federal agency demands it, but the librarian will be guilty of a felony for even revealing that the government has made such a demand.

“At our St. Paul Public Library Board meeting,” Lantry explained, “one of the Councilmembers asked the director of libraries if she had been asked to provide any of that. She said she couldn’t answer that. She can’t even report to the board she’s supposed to report to, because that would be illegal.”

“The PATRIOT Act may have been well intentioned,” Thune argues, “but unfortunately I think it was sort of grounded in some kind of anti-citizenry thing that the right wing has been wanting to pass for a long time, and this was their excuse.”

Thune agrees that the Library Board meeting alluded to by Lantry had a major effect on the City Council’s collective opinion regarding the resolution. “It’s interesting how things align themselves,” he said. “Off the top of my head I asked our chief librarian if the federal government had requested any records from our library ... That’s really wrong when a good civil servant, a marvelous library director, is put in that kind of a position by the federal government, because they can’t even answer ‘yes,’ ‘no,’ or deny to their own board of directors.”

Other areas of the PATRIOT Act specifically referred to in the resolution are “Section 206, which effectively eliminates judicial supervision of telephone and internet surveillance,” and “Section 213, which permits law enforcement to perform searches with no one present and to delay notification of the search of a citizen’s home.” The resolution further condemns the expansion of the PATRIOT Act with the Domestic Security Enhancement Act (DSEA), which would further restrict Constitutional rights. The resolution also reaffirms St. Paul’s commitment to prevent racial profiling by the city police force.

Bostrom, the sole dissenting vote, is a retired St. Paul police officer with many family members who have also worked in law enforcement. Debbie Montgomery, Ward 1, is also a retired St. Paul police officer and has sons who work in law enforcement. She is the first African American woman to hold the position of Commander in the department, and she is also the first African American woman elected to the St. Paul City Council.

posted 02-09-2004 11:40 PM            

There's a website somewhere that lists all the cities that have passed anti-PA legislation and it's over 100!

Not too surprising that the NY papers didn't announce it heavily -- as par for the course, heh?

I'll look for the list!

Thanks!

posted 02-09-2004 11:44 PM            

This is the site you are looking for.

http://www.bordc.org/

posted 02-11-2004 06:42 PM            

Colorado
Boulder
Crestone
Denver
Durango
Fort Collins
Ridgway
San Miguel
County
Telluride
Ward
Takoma Park

Pennsylvania
Lansdowne
Philadelphia
Reading
Wilkinsburg
York

Don't see your city on there either, JBE!

The proposal at the city council here was made, but it was downed before it could get a discussion going! Republicans!

Thanks, Mechie!

bc

posted 02-11-2004 11:16 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by Boomer Chick:
Notice how our town, Colorado Springs, is NOT on the Colorado City list!

Don't see your city on there either, JBE!

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Would you believe, that I first checked NJ and then PA? I tell you, you can't take the Jersey out of the girl! At least major cities in PA have passed resolutions - except for maybe Harrisburg and Pittsburgh. Funny, I also checked CO to see what was going on in your neck of the woods! At least the effort is on a roll and off in the right direction. It can only snowball from here (I Pray!).

posted 02-12-2004 08:08 PM            

But Arcata, California, where my Dh and I once lived, is a tiny spot of a town in northern CA and it was the first in America to reject the Patriot Act! Size doesn't matter! TEE HEE !

posted 02-12-2004 10:52 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by Boomer Chick:
Size doesn't matter! TEE HEE !

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