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U.S.A. Patriot Act Takes Hit at Baltimore City Council Hearing
Baltimore May Join 65 Cities and Towns in Passing a Resolution Countering Certain Provisions of The Patriot Act. Resolution 03-1046 requires the City Council to resist enforcing aspects of the Patriot Act, such as local police enforcing immigration laws and surveilling groups involved in dissent.
Councilman Kwame Abayomi and Kay Dellinger of Coalition Against Global Exploitation Initiated Hearings
On March 13, 2003, the City Council convened a hearing to facilitate public comment on Resolution 03-1046, legislating measures in Baltimore City to counter the U.S.A. Patriot Act, "Patriot Act II," and other legislative orders. The hearing was attended by the legislation’s sponsor, Councilman Kwame Abayomi who introduced the resolution and Councilman Robert Curran, Chair of the Legislative and Judiciary Committee, who presided over the hearing. The legislation, drafted by local activists in conjunction with the ACLU, contains legal language requiring the City to resist enforcing certian aspects Ashcroft's infamous Patriot Act.
Lone Dissenter Says Resolution Creates “False Security”
About 15 activists from diverse organizations attended the meeting Ken Morgan of Baltimore was the only person to criticize 03-1046. Though he said in principle he was for the Resolution, he felt it did not go far enough. “I think it gives you a false sense that somehow that doing this will address the concerns of working people in the US and specifically in Baltimore when it really doesn’t,” he remarked. He talked about police brutality against poor and black people and how there had “never been a City Council hearing about it.” He suggested that the resolution needed to be strengthened by the recognition of other erosions of civil rights in our country.
Fascism in Action?
All other speakers supported the bill. Powerful testimony from speakers compared the current situation in the U.S. to the beginning stages of Nazi Germany. In introducing the bill, Councilman Abayomi said, “The last time any government took that authority and power, it was under the most historically fascist form of power – it was the Third Reich,” Further he said, “if this Act goes unchallenged, unabated, all of us better find another country.”
Many of the witnesses spoke of the unjust treatment of immigrants. Kay Dellinger, speaking for the Coalition Against Global Exploitation, said, “If any other country treated Americans like we have the detainees, our government would accuse that country of human rights abuses and denounce it in the strongest terms. Our government would demand the immediate release of those held. And yet they can treat immigrants who came to this country so unjustly.”
Chuck Michaels, author of book on U.S.A. Patriot Act
Chuck Michaels, Maryland resident and author of a book on the Patriot Act entitled, No Greater Threat, America After September 11 and the Rise of a National Security State, addressed the sweeping character of the Act and the rapidity with which it was passed. He pointed out a number of very broad and vague passages in the bill allow the government extraordinary leeway in gathering information about individuals without the slightest evidence of their guilt. Included in this are “sneak and peak” authority to go into any citizens’ home without their knowledge, look on their computers, download information from their computers, and leave without informing them for as long as 60 days.
Piggy-backing on the critique of how quickly the law was passed, union activist Richard Ochs of Baltimore related the interesting coincidence that occurred as the Patriot Act was bulldozing its way through congress. U.S. Senators Leahy and Daschle intervened to delay the act’s passage. But an anthrax-laced letter addressed to Daschle put an end to further scrutiny. He pointed out the only suspected perpetrator of the anthrax mailing is an American and the source of the anthrax, according to the FBI, “was Fort Detrick.”
“The Patriot will not stop terrorism,” stated Bob Kaufmann. “Unless we have a foreign policy reflecting the golden rule, we will be manufacturing terrorists far faster than we could ever catch them.”
The Return of COINTELPRO
Several speakers recalled another time in recent history when dissent was stifled by U.S. government repression. Josh Brown, activist and Baltimore resident said that the Patriot Act “resurrects COINTELPRO-type programs such as in the 50’s-‘60’s and ‘70’s when the FBI sought to disrupt and discredit thousands of individuals and groups engaged in legitimate activity -- the criminalization of dissent which is meant to be a tenet of our democracy.”
While many people spoke in the abstract about the legislation, Max Obuzweski talked about the recent arrest of 8 people, including himself, for handing out leaflets against a war in Iraq in the Towson Town Center in Towson. He and other were charged with “trespass, disorderly conduct, and failure to obey a lawful order.” While they were detained, 3 of the 8 were handcuffed to a bench for 14 hours. Obuzewski stated that police taunted those arrested by chanting “USA, USA, USA” over a loudspeaker and simulating the sound of bombs dropping.
From the many other opinions offered in favor of the resolution, including those of a representative from the ACLU, there was a strong consensus that it would take many communities and people resisting this Act on many levels to stop the oppression.
More Scarey: The U.S. Government or the Terrorists?
Kay Dellinger reflected on the unprecedented attack of civil liberties brought about by Ashcroft and the federal government. “I believe our country is waging a war on the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, which is unlike anything I have seen in my lifetime. The government has unlimited power and can do whatever it wants to its citizens. I am much more afraid of my government than so-called terrorists. I could accept being killed by a terrorist, but I cannot accept this government destroying the constitution, a document that has been ardently admired by hundreds of millions of people around the world.”
A majority of the 19 City Council members co-sponsored the draft of the legislation when it was initially introduced. Included in the sponsorship were: Kwame Abayomi, John Cain, Paula Branch, Ken Harris, Sheila Dixon (Council President), Robert Curran, Keiffer Mitchell, Catherine Pugh, Helen Holton, and Stephanie Rawlings Blake. It is anticipated that the legislation will be voted on by March 24. A copy of the proposed legislation, Council Bill 03-1046 can be found on below.
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Comments
Baltimore City Council Resolution Against Patriot Act
Introduced by: Council Member Abayomi
Preservation of Civil Liberties Resolution - USA
Patriot Act
For the purpose of defending the civil liberties and
civil rights of all individuals living in Baltimore
City.
WHEREAS, the City of Baltimore recognizes the
Constitution of the United States of America to be the
supreme law of the land, which all public servants are
sworn to uphold; and
WHEREAS, the City of Baltimore greatly benefits from the many contributions of its highly diverse population, which includes people from around the world, and is vital to our city's unique character; and
WHEREAS, the City of Baltimore is a major international port and recognizes its unique position to maintain prosperous relationships with all nations; and
WHEREAS, government security measures that undermine
fundamental rights do damage to the American institutions and values that the residents of the City of Baltimore hold dear;
WHEREAS the Council of the City of Baltimore believes that there is no inherent conflict between national security and the preservation of liberty - Americans can be both safe and free;
WHEREAS federal policies adopted since September 11, 2001, including provisions in the USA PATRIOT Act (Public Law 107-56) and 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 by the President 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 peak" 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;
(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;
WHEREAS these new powers have and will pose a particular threat to the civil rights and liberties of the residents of our city; and
WHEREAS new legislation has been drafted by the Administration entitled the Domestic Security Enhancement Act (DSEA) (also known as PATRIOT II) which contains a multitude of new and sweeping law enforcement and intelligence gathering powers, many of which are not related to terrorism, that would severely dilute, if not undermine, many basic constitutional rights, as well as disturb our unique system of checks and balances by:
(a) diminishing personal privacy by removing important
checks on government surveillance authority,
(b) reduce the accountability of government to the public by increasing government secrecy,
(c) expanding the definition of "terrorism" in a manner that threatens the constitutionally protected rights of Americans, and
(d) seriously erode the right of all persons to due process of law.
WHEREAS, the City of Baltimore recognizes that an infringement of the constitutionally guaranteed rights of any person, under the color of law, is an abuse of power, and a breach of the public trust, a misappropriation of public resources, a violation of civil rights and is beyond the scope of governmental authority.
NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BALTIMORE remains firmly committed to the protection of civil rights and civil liberties for all people. The City of Baltimore will completely avoid
discrimination in every function of city government, and vigorously uphold the constitutionally protected rights of all persons to peacefully protest and express their political views without any form of governmental interference.
IT IS HEREBY FURTHER RESOLVED that the City of Baltimore joins communities across the nation in expressing concerns regarding provisions in the USA PATRIOT Act (Public Law 107-56), related executive orders, regulations and actions threaten fundamental rights and liberties guaranteed under the United States Constitution.
IT IS HEREBY FURTHER RESOLVED that the Council of the City of Baltimore:
1. Directs the Police Department of the City of Baltimore to:
a. Refrain from enforcing immigration matters, which are entirely the responsibility of the Department of Homeland Security. No city service will be denied on the basis of citizenship; and
b. 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, without particularized suspicion of criminal activity unrelated to the activity protected by the First Amendment;
c. Refrain from utilizing racial profiling or religious profiling as factors in selecting which individuals to subject to investigatory activities except when seeking to apprehend a specific suspect whose race, religion, ethnicity or national origin is part of the description of the suspect; and
d. Refrain, whether acting alone or with federal or state law enforcement officers, 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 unless such information directly relates to an investigation of criminal activities, and there are reasonable grounds to suspect the subject of the information is or may be involved in criminal conduct; and
e. Refrain from undertaking or participating in any
initiative, such as the Terrorism Information and Prevention System (TIPS), that encourages members of the general public to spy on their neighbors, colleagues or customers; and
f. Refrain from using racial profiling to stop drivers
or pedestrians for the purpose of scrutinizing their
identification documents without particularized suspicion of criminal activity; and
g. Report to the city council any request by federal
authorities that, if granted, would cause agencies of the City of Baltimore to exercise 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.
2. Directs public libraries within the City of Baltimore to post in a prominent place within the library a notice to library users 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. That federal law prohibits librarians from informing you if federal agents have obtained records about you. Questions about this policy should be directed to: Attorney General John Ashcroft, Department of Justice, Washington, DC
20530";
3. Directs the City Council Chief of Staff to:
a. Transmit a copy of this resolution to Senators Barbara Mikulski and Paul Sarbanes, and Representatives Elijah Cummings, Dutch Ruppersberger and Roscoe Bartlett accompanied by a letter urging them to monitor federal anti-terrorism tactics and work to repeal provisions of the USA PATRIOT ACT and other laws and regulations that infringe on civil rights and liberties. And to take all possible actions to lead Congressional action to prohibit passage of the DSEA; and
b. Transmit a copy of this resolution to Governor
Robert Ehrlich, and appropriate members of the State
Legislature, accompanied by a letter urging them to ensure that state anti-terrorism laws and policies be implemented in a manner that does not infringe on civil liberties as described in this resolution; and
c. Transmit a copy of this resolution to President George W. Bush and Attorney General John Ashcroft.