Largest City in America Passes Pro-Civil Liberties Resolution

New York City Becomes 250th to Join Call to Keep America Safe and Free 

PRESS RELEASE / ACLU 4feb04

[Text of resolution below]

WASHINGTON - The American Civil Liberties Union today hailed passage by the New York City Council of a pro-civil liberties resolution urging a narrowing of some of the most egregious portions of the USA PATRIOT Act and affirming support for freedom in the post-9/11 era. Today's move by the City Council comes just a week after the Bush Administration threatened to veto a bill that offers modest changes to the PATRIOT Act to bring certain measures back in line with the Constitution.

"The city of New York-perhaps more than any city in America--is keenly aware of why we are engaged in a war on terror, and this resolution reminds us of our commitment to the very freedoms we seek to protect," said Donna Lieberman, Executive Director of the New York Civil Liberties Union. "With its diverse population, it is fitting and proper that the nation's largest city has joined millions across the country in demanding that America can, and must, be both safe and free."

The council adopted Resolution 60, which seeks to "affirm and uphold civil rights and civil liberties." The resolution, which passed by voice-vote with overwhelming support, was spearheaded by Deputy Majority Leader Bill Perkins (D-Manhattan) and has enjoyed widespread support since its introduction. While 34 members of the council were co-sponsors, of particular note is Council Member Alan Gerson (D-Manhattan), whose district includes the site of the World Trade Center. More than 90 organizations had endorsed the resolution, including the NAACP, the New York Public Library Guild and American-Arab Anti Discrimination Committee. At council hearings held earlier on the resolution, family members of FDNY and NYPD officers who died on 9/11 testified in support of the resolution.

"The fact that the resolution passed in New York City, site of the devastating attacks of 9/11 sends a resounding message that New Yorkers are not willing to trade their freedom for policies that do not make them any more safe," said Laura W. Murphy, Director of the ACLU Legislative Office. "The city of New York paid a higher cost that most cities, but New Yorkers are standing up and refusing to sacrifice their fundamental freedoms."

New York joins a growing list of 250 governing bodies responding to the Patriot Act, the sweeping anti-terrorism legislation steamrolled through Congress in October of 2001, and other post-9/11 security measures. Similar resolutions have passed elsewhere, including the state legislatures of Hawaii, Alaska and Vermont -- encompassing about 43 million people in 37 states. Participating communities range in size and political inclination from tiny conservative North Pole, Alaska and Carrboro, North Carolina, to Chicago, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Detroit and San Francisco.

In addition to local governments, several national organizations have also adopted similar pro-civil liberties resolutions. Among them are the American Library Association, the Japanese American Citizens League, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the National League of Cities, the Organization of Chinese Americans and Veterans for Peace.

Specifically, Resolution 60 calls upon city agencies not to subject New Yorkers to secret detentions without charge without access to counsel. It urges the NYPD to respect the rights of individuals to engage in First Amendment protected activities, refrain from enforcing federal immigration laws and is prohibited from engaging in racial profiling. The resolution also calls upon the New York delegation of Congress to "actively work for the repeal of those sections of the USA PATRIOT Act and related federal actions that unduly infringe upon fundamental rights and liberties." There are currently several measures pending in Congress that seek to bring the PATRIOT Act back in line with the Constitution.

One such measure is the Safety and Freedom Ensured (SAFE Act), a bipartisan bill co-sponsored by Senators Larry Craig (R-ID), Dick Durbin (D-IL), John Sununu (R-NH) and Russell Feingold (D-WI). The SAFE Act is a set of modest reforms designed to bring the most egregious provisions of the PATRIOT Act in line with the Constitution. The SAFE Act was the subject of a letter sent last week from Attorney General John Ashcroft advising key members of the Senate Judiciary Committee that if the SAFE Act passed in its current form the President would be advised to veto it.

"The resolution affirms New York City's respect for civil liberties and civil rights," said Deputy Majority Leader Perkins, the resolution's primary sponsor. "Even as we continue to cope with the tragedy of 9/11, we as New Yorkers and as Americans must not surrender the basic constitutional protections that we hold dear."

"These resolutions speak volumes about the commitment of ordinary Americans to our freedoms," the ACLU's Murphy said. "The city of New York has shown its true patriotism by speaking out against the PATRIOT Act, which went too far, too fast after 9/11 and demanding that our civil liberties not be forgotten as we meet the challenges of this new era."

The text of the resolution can be found at: http://www.nycbordc.org/resolution0909-2003.html 

For more on the local resolutions campaign, go to: http://www.aclu.org/resolutions 

source: http://www.aclu.org/SafeandFree/SafeandFree.cfm?ID=14871&c=206 6feb04

 

New York City Council Bill of Rights Resolution Res. 60-2004 (formerly 0909-2003-A)
Adopted by the Council on Wednesday, February 4, 2004

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, López, Monserrate, Seabrook, Vann, Yassky, Baez, Boyland, Brewer, Clarke, Comrie, deBlasio, Dilan, Foster, Gerson, Gonzalez, Jackson, James, Jennings, Koppell, Liu, Martinez, Speaker Miller, Moskowitz, Provenzano, Quinn, Reed, Reyna, Rivera, Sanders, Serrano, Stewart, and Weprin.

    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, Certain federal policies adopted since September 11, 2001, including certain provisions in the USA PATRIOT Act (Public Law 107-56) and related federal actions unduly infringe upon fundamental rights and liberties; and

    Whereas, These new policies include the power to authorize the indefinite incarceration of non-citizens based on mere suspicion of terrorist activity, and the indefinite incarceration of citizens designated as “enemy combatants” without access to counsel or meaningful recourse to the federal courts; limitations on the traditional authority of federal courts to curb law enforcement abuse of electronic surveillance in anti-terrorism investigations and ordinary criminal investigations; the expansion of 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; grants to law enforcement and intelligence agencies broad access to personal medical, financial, library and education records with little if any judicial oversight; and

    Whereas, These new policies may undermine trust between immigrant communities and the government, and in particular, pose a 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 may further compromise constitutional rights and our government’s unique system of checks and balances; and

    Whereas, Three states and more than 200 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 protect civil rights and civil liberties; and be it further

    Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York affirms its strong support for the rights of immigrants and opposes measures that single out individuals for legal scrutiny or enforcement activity based primarily upon their country of origin; and be it further

    Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York affirms its commitment to uphold civil rights and civil liberties, and therefore expresses its opposition to:

     (a) investigation 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, without reasonable suspicion of criminal activity unrelated to the activity protected by the First Amendment;

    (b) racial, religious or ethnic profiling;

    (c) participation in the enforcement of federal immigration laws, except as directed by New York City Executive Order 41;

    (d) deployment of biometric identification technology that is unreliable;

    (e) establishment of a network of general surveillance cameras unless such a network is subject to regulations that provide reasonable and effective protections of privacy and due process rights of individuals who appear in recorded material; and

    (f) “sneak and peek” searches, pursuant to Section 213 of the Patriot Act, unless the search is authorized and conducted in accordance with New York State law; and

    (g) establishment or maintenance of an anti-terrorism reporting system that creates an electronic record on an individual unless subject to regulations that provide for the protection of individuals subject to unfounded reports; and be it further

    Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York opposes requests 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 urges each of the City’s public libraries to inform library patrons that Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act gives the government new authority to monitor book-borrowing and Internet activities without patrons’ knowledge or consent and that this law prohibits library staff from informing patrons if federal agents have requested patrons’ library records; and be it further

    Resolved, That in order to assess the effect of antiterrorism initiatives on the residents of the City of New York, the City Council calls upon federal officials to make periodic reports, consistent with the Freedom of Information Act, that include:

    (a) the number of New York City residents who have been arrested or otherwise detained by federal authorities as a result of terrorism investigations since September 11, 2001;

    (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 number of electronic surveillance actions carried out in the City of New York under powers granted in the USA PATRIOT Act;

    (d) the number of investigations 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 calls upon our United States Representatives and Senators to monitor the implementation of the USA PATRIOT Act and related federal actions and to actively work for the repeal of those sections of the USA PATRIOT Act and related federal actions that unduly infringe upon fundamental rights and liberties as recognized in the U.S. Constitution and its Amendments; and be it further

    Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York calls upon our United States Representatives and Senators to 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 calls upon Governor George Pataki, Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and the members of the State Legislature to ensure that state anti-terrorism laws and policies are implemented in a manner that does not infringe upon fundamental rights and liberties as recognized in the U.S. Constitution and its Amendments and in the New York State Constitution.

source: http://www.nycbordc.org/resolution0060-2004.html 6feb04