Huntington Resolution Reaffirming the Bill of Rights (HRRBR)
Resolution calling upon federal, state and local officials, and upon Huntington Town and Town institutions, to affirm and uphold civil rights and civil liberties.
Whereas the protection of civil rights and civil liberties is essential to the well being of a free and democratic society; and
Whereas the Town of Huntington has a diverse population, including immigrants and students, whose contributions to the town are vital to its economy, culture and civic character; and
Whereas the members of the Town Board of Huntington 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 Town of Huntington 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), 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, and which violates Rule41(d) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure as well as the fourth Amendment;
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 committed; and
Whereas these new powers pose a particular threat to the civil rights and liberties of the residents of our town who are or who appear to be Arab, Muslim or of South Asian descent; and
Whereas acts of civil disobedience could be declared as acts of 'domestic terrorism', under Section 802 of the Patriot Act, a definition so broad that it could have labeled Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. a domestic terrorist; 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 the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004 which amends the term 'financial institution' along with prior law'1 has given FBI agents power to obtain any information upon request from any business without suspicion of criminal wrong doing or terrorist activity, without judicial oversight or a system of checks and balances, with criminal prosecution in potential violation of a persons Fourth Amendment right; and
Whereas three states and more than 250 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 Town Board of Huntington opposes the secret detention of persons and the detention of persons without charges or access to a lawyer, and therefore calls upon the Suffolk Police Department and other relevant law enforcement to refrain from such police activity; and be further
Resolved, that the Town Board of Huntington calls upon federal, state and local officials, and upon Huntington agencies and institutions, to affirm, uphold and protect civil rights and civil liberties; and be it further;
Resolved, that the Huntington Town Board 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 Town Board of Huntington affirms its commitment to uphold civil rights and civil liberties, and therefore expresses its opposition to:
a. investigation and 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, without reasonable suspicion of criminal activity unrelated to the activity protected by the First Amendment;
b. the collection or maintenance of 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 police officers 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. racial, religious or ethnic profiling;
d. the denial of bail to any person without proving a potential danger or risk of flight as allowed under The Pretrial Detention and Lifetime Supervision of Terrorist Act of 2003
e. the 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; and
g. the broadened use of National Security Letters, which deny judicial oversight and hinder the American system of checks and balances; and
h. the loose definition of 'domestic terrorism' as given by the Patriot Act, which is so broad it could encompass acts of civil disobedience by protest groups; and
i. 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 Huntington Town Board opposes requests by federal authorities that, if granted, would cause agencies of the Town of Huntington to violate a town ordinance, or the state or federal Constitution.
Resolved, that the Huntington Town Board urges each of the Town's public libraries to inform library patrons when, and that, their records and Internet Activity have been provided to federal agencies; and be it further
Resolved, that the Huntington Town Board opposes any use of Nation Security Letters or its additional employment when coupled with Section 334 of the Intelligence Authorization Act of 20042; and be it further
Resolved that the Huntington Town Board opposes the unregulated system of Computer Identification Programs (CIP's) created by Section 326 of the Patriot Act, which forces financial institutions to hand over non-consensual information to 3rd party companies which violates the constitutional rights of their employees and customers, which when coupled with the Intelligence Authorization Act of 20043, requires most businesses to install CIP's, without suspicion of terrorism or wrongdoing and without judicial review, hindering Huntington financial institutions by requiring them to distribute customer information while assuring customer privacy; and be it further
Resolved, that in order to assess the effect of antiterrorism initiatives on the residents of the Town of Huntington, the Town Board calls upon federal officials to make periodic reports, consistent with the Freedom of Information Act, that include:
a. the number of Huntington 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 Town of Huntington 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 Town of Huntington 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 Town of Huntington;
e. the number of times education records have been obtained from public schools and institutions of higher learning located in the Town of Huntington under section 507 of the USA PATRIOT Act;
f. the number of times library records have been obtained from Huntington Public Library branches 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 Town of Huntington under section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act; and be it further
Resolved, That every six-months from the date of this resolution, the Town Board of Huntington shall publish and make available according to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and in a searchable manner on the Town of Huntington Website, a summary of the aggregate information obtained pursuant to the preceding paragraph and all attempts to collect this information, including the records of correspondence; and be it further
Resolved, That the Huntington Town Board 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 civil rights and civil liberties as recognized in the U.S. Constitution; and be it further
Resolved, That the Huntington Town Board calls upon our United States Representatives and Senators to actively pursue and the NYS Congressional Delegation to take the lead in Congressional action to prohibit passage of Federal Acts that violate the Federal and New York State Constitutions, Suffolk County Laws and Huntington Town Ordinances; such as the Domestic Security Enhancement Act (DSEA), known as "Patriot II" and the Vital Interdiction of Criminal Terrorist Organizations Act (VICTORY Act); and be it further
Resolved, That the Huntington Town Board calls upon our United States Representatives and Senators to actively pursue and the NYS Congressional Delegation to take the lead in Congressional action to for the passage of any other legislation which aids in both the protection of civil liberties and the prevention of terrorism such as the Security and Freedom Ensured Act of 2003 (SAFE) Act, and be it further;
Resolved, That the Town of Huntington calls upon Governor George Pataki, New York State Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno and New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and the members of the State Senate and State Legislature to ensure that state anti-terrorism laws and policies are implemented in a manner that does not infringe upon fundamental civil rights and civil liberties as recognized in the Federal and New York State Constitution.
Resolved that the Huntington Town Board shall transmit a copy of this resolution to President Bush and Attorney General Ashcroft.
Endnotes
1 - Section 505/National Security Letters
2 - Section 334
3 - Section 334