Patriot Act Puts All of Us in Danger
"Individuals have international duties which transcend the national
obligations of obedience." They have a duty "to prevent crimes against peace
and humanity from occurring."
Nuremberg judgment
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On February 4 of this year, some 300 citizens of Northampton, Massachusetts,
held a town meeting to organize ways to"as they put it"protect the residents
of the town from the Bush-Ashcroft USA Patriot Act.
The Northampton Bill of Rights Defense Committee was formed. Similar
committees are organizing around the country. Ashcroft threatened dissenters
in his testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee last year. He
denounced those "who scare peace-loving people with phantoms of lost
liberty. . . . Your tactics only aid terrorists, for they erode our national
unity and diminish our resolve. They give ammunition to America's enemies."
Speakers emphasized that the USA Patriot Act and the succession of
unilateral Ashcroft-Bush orders that followed apply to Americans as well as
non-citizens.
William Newman, director of the ACLU of Western Massachusetts, pointed out
that law enforcement agencies are now permitted "the same access to your
Internet use and to your e-mail use that they have to your telephone
records." Also speaking was University of Massachusetts professor Bill
Strickland, who noted, "The elements of the Patriot Act place all of us in
danger."
One result of that meeting was a petition, signed by over 1000
Northamptonites, urging the town government to approve a "resolution to
defend the Bill of Rights." Thanks to a persistent organizing drive, that
resolution passed the Northampton city council by a unanimous vote on May 2.
It targets not only the USA Patriot Act but also all subsequent actions by
Ashcroft and others that threaten key rights guaranteed to U.S. citizens and
non-citizens by the Bill of Rights and the Massachusetts Constitution. Among
those key rights: freedom of speech, assembly, and privacy; the right to
counsel and due process in judicial proceedings; and protection from
unreasonable searches and seizures.
The city of Northampton officially asks, from now on, that federal and state
law enforcement report to the local Human Rights Commission all local
investigations undertaken under the aegis of the [USA Patriot] Act and
Orders; and that the community's congressional representatives actively
monitor the implementation of the Act and Orders, and work to repeal those
sections found unconstitutional.
Similar resolutions have been passed or are being prepared in a number of
cities. To find out about these campaigns around the country, and about a
range of organizing tools, you can visit the Northampton Bill of Rights
Defense Committee's Web site, and its links: http://www.gjf.org/NBORDC
Back to Peace Talk Index, Autumn, 2002