E-Actions for Freedom

CA: California Legislature Considers Reducing Marijuana Penalties

From California NORML:

California Legislature Considers Reducing Marijuana Penalties

Tell Your Elected Officials to Support S.B. 131

The California legislature is about to take a crucial vote on marijuana decriminalization. The State Assembly is reconsidering a bill by Sen. Byron Sher, SB 131, which would downgrade possession of one ounce or less of marijuana from a misdemeanor to an infraction, like a parking ticket.

SB 131 would spare minor offenders the trouble of a court appearance and criminal conviction. It would also save taxpayers the court costs of trials for petty pot violations.

Last year, SB 131 passed the Senate, but fell 5 votes short of passage in the Assembly, due largely to lack of support among 'swing 'Democrats (Republicans voted solidly against it).

Now, SB 131 is up for reconsideration by the Assembly. Passage is essential for the progress of marijuana reform in Sacramento. If SB 131 is approved, it could open the way for more ambitious proposals, such as a bill to decriminalize personal use cultivation. If it fails, marijuana reform will be dead in Sacramento.

Californians who reside in swing districts are urged to contact their Assembly members in support of SB 131.

Letters are especially needed from constituents of the following 'swing' Democrats who failed to vote for SB 131 last time:

Dario Frommer (LA)
Cindy Montanez (SAN FERNANDO)
Lou Correa (ANAHEIM)
Manny Diaz (SAN JOSE)
Jerome Horton (INGLEWOOD)
Rebecca Cohn (SARATOGA - SAN JOSE)
Nicole Parra (BAKERSFIELD - HANFORD)
Barbara Matthews (STOCKTON - TRACY)
Sally Reyes (FRESNO)
Simon Salinas (SALINAS)
George Nakano (TORRANCE)

IRS and FEC Gag Political Speech: Take Action

Drug Policy Alliance Action Center

IRS and FEC Gag Political Speech

Two Bush administration agencies are proposing new regulations to prevent the Alliance and other advocacy groups from telling our supporters about the political actions of federal officials who are up for re-election. Our First Amendment rights - and yours - are at stake! Help us put a stop to the dangerous proposals that could bring an end to free speech and political activism.

Learn more about this issue

Take Action

Action Needed Immediately to Protect Rodi Alvarado

From Amnesty International:

Your action is needed immediately to help protect Rodi Alvarado and other women fleeing gender persecution.

Nearly a year ago, Attorney General John Ashcroft said that he would personally decide the asylum case of Rodi Alvarado, a Guatemalan woman whose government failed to protect her during ten years of horrific abuse by her husband. When deciding that case, Ashcroft also planned to issue regulations that could bar many people, especially women fleeing gender-based persecution, from asylum in the United States. Fearing that the Attorney General would deny Ms. Alvarado asylum and issue restrictive regulations, Amnesty campaigned to prevent such a decision. There has been no decision so far, but now it seems imminent.

--> Please write immediately to Attorney General Ashcroft asking him not to revoke Rodi Alvarado's asylum grant. Amnesty International USA - Action Center">To take action, click here.

About Rodi Alvarado
The terrible facts of Rodi Alvarado's case are undisputed. She fled Guatemala and applied for asylum in the United States in 1995, after suffering ten years of relentless domestic abuse. Her husband Francisco Osorio, a former soldier, attempted to abort their second child by kicking her in the spine, dislocated her jaw, tried to cut her hands off with a machete, kicked her in the genitals, and used her head to break windows and mirrors. Ms. Alvarado sought assistance from the Guatemalan police and the courts - in vain. If Mr. Ashcroft denies asylum to Rodi Alvarado, she would be deported to Guatemala, where she faces battering and possible killing by her husband, who has vowed to find her.

California - Stop the Execution of Kevin Cooper

From Amnesty International:

Kevin Cooper is scheduled to be executed in California on February 10, 2004. He was sentenced to death in 1985 for a quadruple murder committed in 1983. Cooper maintains his innocence of the murders, and the jury that sentenced him struggled to pass a death sentence, apparently due to residual doubt about his guilt. The jury never heard available mitigating evidence. On January 30, Governor Schwarzenegger denied clemency to Kevin Cooper.

Please urge Governor Schwarzenegger to reconsider his decision not to grant clemency to Kevin Cooper. To take action, click on this link or paste it into your Web browser:
http://takeaction.amnestyusa.org/ctt.asp?u=464134&l=7944

Amnesty International has the deepest sympathy for the victims of violent crime and their families. However, the death penalty only serves to create more victims and perpetuate a cycle of violence.

Thank you for taking the time to protect human rights.

Sincerely,

Online Action Center
Amnesty International USA
http://takeaction.amnestyusa.org/ctt.asp?u=464134&l=7945

Oppose the CLEAR Act

American Civil Liberties Union : New Legislation Seeks to Turn Police into Immigration Agents

In another example of how the war on terrorism has turned into a war on immigrants, new legislation before the House would require overburdened local and state law enforcement officers to enforce federal immigration laws.

The CLEAR Act (HR 2671), introduced by Representative Charlie Norwood (R-GA), would require state and local law enforcement agencies to enforce federal immigration laws even though they are not provided with additional resources or training to undertake this new role.

Numerous police departments and many conservative organizations have spoken out against this act, saying that it would hinder local law enforcement and create additional burdens on already-overburdened enforcement agencies.

Take Action! Urge your Representative to oppose the CLEAR Act.

Stand up for Sashwat Singh's right to rap

UPDATE: Sashwat's case seems to have come to a close: his family reached a "compromise" with the school. Part of that compromise is that Sashwat must see a school counselor, and that his family won't pursue getting the suspension taken off his record. Weak. And now Sashwat says, in reference to the questions he'll be asked by schoolmates about his rap album, "I'm going to have to ignore most of it. Because if I make a disturbance in the school, they'll try to suspend me again for that."

And I'm certain that Principal Mark Cerutti (ceruttim@elmbrook.k12.wi.us) has not gotten enough e-mails of disapproval over his suspension of Sashwat, and I'm equally certain that Superintendant Matt Gibson (gibsonm@elmbrook.k12.wi.us) has not heard enough about how lame it was that he lorded the threat of expulsion over Singh's head in order to get the family to back down and take their undeserved lumps.

And/or, please write a letter to the editor of the regional papers there, and/or write to the school board and the administrators listed in the original action below. PoliticalNonviolence.org has a web tool that allows you to choose up to 10 Wisconsin papers to send your letter to simultaneously. Just go to their campaigns page and you'll see a link to the Sashwat case ("Defend Sashwat Singh's Right to Rap") in the list of national campaigns on the right. The other pieces of that campaign were prepared before Monday's settlement, so they are a little outdated, but the letter-sending tool is still useful. I'll update the rest of the campaign there (and here) later today.

Original E-Action:

Here's the backstory, from my main blog:
(or, skip right to the action)

Sashwat Singh is an honor student at Brookfield Central High School in Brookfield, WI. He's a big music lover -- he's in the school band and choir, and he's a big fan of local live music as well. And, like most kids these days, he's good on the computer.

...

That entry goes on to make an impassioned case against the school's actions, and to explain that administrators are currently considering whether to make things even worse, by holding an expulsion hearing, for Sashwat's "offense" of making a rap CD. If you need to be convinced that this is an injustice (or you want to read my exceptional persuasive writing), click here to finish reading that entry. Actually, why don't you go do that either way? I'll wait.

(Update: A conversation with Sashwat's father revealed that the song where he "threatens" his principal is primarily a protest song against the new principal's tendency to call the police into the school for "every little thing".)

Alright then, on to the action. The figures in this case are the following:

Everyone: Call Superintendent Matt Gibson NOW and impress upon him the importance of not moving forward with an expulsion hearing for Sashwat Singh. I just spoke with him a moment ago, and he listened nicely to my comments. He is apparently working on settling things with the family's attorney today. Call him right now (262-781-3030 ext. 1124*) and make sure he does the right thing.

And of course, spread the word. Pass this action item around to anyone who you think might care.

If you live near Brookfield, Wisconsin:

If you live outside of Wisconsin, then I recommend the following action--

--Send an e-mail to the above-mentioned people -- you can click here and it should pop-up an e-mail with all their addresses already in place. Principal Cerutti and Superintendent Gibson will be in the "To:" box, and the Associate Principals and the Board of Education members will be in the "Cc:" box. Put your own e-mail address in there somewhere, to facilitate the next step after this one.

I recommend addressing Superintendent Matt Gibson. Tell him that to apply a "zero tolerance" policy to a music album is a very bad idea, and that to apply such a policy to something produced outside of school is also a bad idea. And that punishing creative expression is a bad idea as well. You get the idea -- just tell him what you think of the way Principal Cerutti has handled this situation, and the way that Sashwat Singh has been treated. Tell him he should choose not to hold an expulsion hearing. If you want to go further, tell him he should work to get the suspension removed from Sashwat's record. And if you want to go even further, tell him that he should apologize to sashwat and his family on behalf of the school district, and that he should fire or otherwise discipline Principal Cerutti. Tell him, if you like, that you are part of a gathering group of activists who will be watching this story closely. And finally, tell him that you will be forwarding your letter to the local news outlets. If you like, you can link to my blog entry where I defend Sashwat and bemoan the school's action. This is the link: http://www.freedom2008.com/blog/archives/001859.html

Be courteous and calm in your letter -- you're trying to persuade, not to scare or offend. After you've sent it, forward it to these folks:

Reid J. Epstein - author of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel article about Singh
repstein@journalsentinel.com

Gazette Extra Newsroom (They published this story about the incident.)
newsroom@gazetteextra.com

If you are feeling spunky, or if you don't feel like writing, you can make some phone calls. The phone contact info for all the above-mentioned school folks is below.

If you live in Wisconsin:

You can do the above action, plus you can send in a letter to the editor about the incident to the local papers, saying most of the stuff mentioned above, except directing it to the editor and the public, instead of Superintendent Gibson.

Here's the letter to the editor form at the GazetteExtra. You can also fax them at 608.755.8349, and call their Sound Off line at 608.755.8335.

The editor of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Martin Kaiser, can be e-mail at mkaiser@journalsentinel.com. Or, you can use their online form for submitting your letter. They published this very misguided editorial this weekend, approving of the suspension, apparently mostly on the grounds that his lyrics were "offensive and violent". They could use some schooling on freedom of expression.

Here is the contact info for the relevant school officials:

Principal Mark Cerutti
Brookfield Central High School
16900 West Gebhardt Road
Brookfield, WI 53005
Phone: (262) 785-3910
Fax: (262) 785-3993
ceruttim@elmbrook.k12.wi.us

Superintendent Matt Gibson
Elmbrook School District
13780 Hope Street
P.O. Box 1830
Brookfield, WI 53008-1830
Phone: 262-781-3030 ext. 1124*
Fax: 262-783-0983
(*Secretary Carol Chetney)
gibsonm@elmbrook.k12.wi.us

Elmbrook Board of Education:
(info is from this public web page)

Mr. Patrick J. Murphy
12554 Knoll Road
Elm Grove, WI 53122
Home Phone: 262-782-5270
District Voice Mail: 262-781-3030 ext. 1265
murphyp@elmbrook.k12.wi.us

Mr. Stephen C. Schwei
1427 South Parkview Avenue
New Berlin, WI 53151
Home Phone: 262-780-0581
District Voice Mail: 262-781-3030 ext. 1263
schweis@elmbrook.k12.wi.us

Mr. Bruce E. Nattinger, President
21165 Stratford Court
Brookfield, WI 53045
Home Phone: 262-784-0790
District Voice Mail: 262-781-3030 ext. 1508
nattingb@elmbrook.k12.wi.us

Mrs. Cheri A. Sylla, Vice President
3410 Lilly Road
Brookfield, WI 53005
Home Phone: 262-781-3592
District Voice Mail: 262-781-3030 ext. 1507
syllac@elmbrook.k12.wi.us

Mr. Thomas A. Ricca, Clerk
21435 Ann Rita Drive
Brookfield, WI 53045
Home Phone: 262-784-6769
District Voice Mail: 262-781-3030 ext. 1261
riccat@elmbrook.k12.wi.us

Mrs. Meg T. Wartman, Treasurer
2425 Whippletree Lane
Brookfield,WI 53045
Home Phone: 262-827-8850
District Voice Mail: 262-781-3030 ext. 1266
wartmanm@elmbrook.k12.wi.us

Mr. Robert J. Ziegler
14360 Corona Court
Brookfield, WI 53005
Home Phone: 262-784-2422
District Voice Mail: 262-781-3030 ext. 1239
zieglerr@elmbrook.k12.wi.us

Fight (anti-)RAVE Act II and CLEAN-UP Act

From the Drug Policy Alliance:

RAVE ACT II

In the fight to repeal the RAVE Act we have come up against another piece of anti-rave legislation. If made into law, this latest attack on our civil liberties would open more doors for the prosecution of innocent business owners unable to stop drugs coming into their venue. Thousands of our supporters have already faxed their representatives about what we are calling the RAVE Act II (officially known as the Ecstasy Awareness Act) and groups across the country, like EM:DEF and ROAR, are mobilizing voters against the bill.

If you haven't faxed your Representative about the Ecstasy Awareness Act, please do so at: http://actioncenter.drugpolicy.org/ctt.asp?u=20747&l=4336

We also need you to fax your Representative about the CLEAN-UP Act if you haven't already. http://actioncenter.drugpolicy.org/ctt.asp?u=20747&l=4337

For more on what you can do to stop threats to hip hop and electronic music see: http://actioncenter.drugpolicy.org/ctt.asp?u=20747&l=4338

Stop RAVE Act II

Stop RAVE Act II

Congress is considering a sequel to the RAVE Act that is even more draconian than the first. If enacted, the Ecstasy Awareness Act would throw people in jail who organize raves or similar electronic dance events if some of their customers used drugs. Fax your Representative and tell him or her not to co-sponsor this dangerous bill.

Help Stop "Drugs and Terrorism" VICTORY Act

From the Drug Policy Alliance:

***Taking Away More of Our Rights
***New "Drugs and Terrorism" Bill Must Be Stopped

Senators are drafting a "drugs and terrorism" bill that could treat many non-violent drug offenders as terrorists and strip away civil liberties from every American. Unless you tell your Senators "No way!" it could be introduced soon.

Fax your Senators here!

It was bad enough that the government used tax payer dollars to produce ads calling marijuana users terrorists. Now things are more serious and the government is trying to create new laws to boost their 'drug war' in the name of fighting terrorism.

'Vital Interdiction of Criminal Terrorist Organizations (VICTORY) Act of 2003' could turn out to be more devastating for us (the ones these laws should protect) than the PATRIOT Act. The Drug Policy Alliance has been working behind the scenes to secure opposition to the bill in Congress and help remove some of the most dangerous provisions. Now we need your help.

Most recent drafts of the legislation would expand the Justice Department's already overbearing PATRIOT Act powers to provide extra penalties for drug sellers alleged to provide funding to terrorist groups (even if they do not know that they are connected with terrorists). Dramatically expanding the government's 'big brother' powers, the VICTORY Act also allows the government to spy on citizens without the checks and balances needed to prevent abuse.

Frightening as it is, Drug Policy Alliance believes that with enough pressure the VICTORY Act can be stopped before it's even introduced. Fax your Senators today to urge them not to co-sponsor or support the VICTORY Act. If Senator Hatch cannot find enough co-sponsors for his legislation, he may be forced to rethink this unnecessary legislation.

ACTIONS TO TAKE

1) Fax your Senators here.

2) Forward this alert to your friends and family

A draft of the bill obtained by the Drug Policy Alliance can be read here.

Support Proper Protections for Airline Passengers

Using easily falsified information such as name, home address, home phone number and date of birth, this system would screen your name through commercial databases and then run your information through secret government databases to make a judgment about your security risk. These secret databases would probably be compiled using intelligence and law enforcement records that could include personal information gleaned from commercial data such as purchase history and banking records. 

Based on all of this information, you may be allowed to travel, undergo special security scrutiny, or be referred to law enforcement and possibly detained. If you are branded a "risk" due to false information, the process for correcting the error is unclear and could result in significant delays or even detention for innocent people.  There is furthermore no infrastructure in place to determine whether CAPPS II would unfairly target particular ethnic communities.

Take Action! Act Now to Stop the CAPPS II Program!

 This System Would Affect Many Innocent Travelers
Innocent, law-abiding Americans have already been subject to relentless hassles, interrogation and searches every time they try to travel by air.  These people and many others will continue to be delayed or banned from flying because they share similar names with those placed on suspect lists, are the victims of random error, or because of some mysterious bureaucratic quirk.  This national system would only increase the delays and blacklist even more innocent Americans - regular people traveling for work or vacations.

 This System will Invade Your Privacy and Be Rooted in Secrecy
The most intrusive and dangerous element of the program -- the construction of an infrastructure for conducting background checks on people who fly -- would depend on shadowy intelligence/law enforcement databases of questionable reliability. The use of these secret databases would remove meaningful public oversight and control over these un-American background checks. 

 This System Will Not Make Us Any Safer 
Terrorists will learn how to circumvent the system. Identity thieves could easily sidestep this check by presenting a false driver's license or passport, undercutting the system's entire mission. And the constant false alarms might divert the attention of airport security officers from legitimate threats to security.

Urge DEA to approve Medical Marijuana study

Take Action Now!

Dear NORML Supporters:

You can really help NORML and the larger effort to make medical cannabis
available by taking part in this NORML Action Alert. One of the federal
government's favorite arguments against state medical cannabis laws and
initiatives is that the medical use of cannabis has not been approved by the
FDA and that more scientific research must be conducted. What they don't say
is that cannabis is treated differently than all other drugs.

Sadly, this is not a surprise to NORML's supporters.

The federal government, through the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA),
retains a monopoly on the supply of cannabis that can be used in
FDA-approved research and has twice refused to supply it to
privately-funded FDA-approved studies. Over two years ago the Medicinal
Plant Program at The University of Massachusetts/Amherst applied for a
license to produce cannabis for research purposes only to be confronted by a
series of dilatory tactics by the DEA.

Finally, in July this year the DEA officially announced the program's
application. A decision is expected shortly after the end of the public
comment period on September 22, 2003.

The DEA has indicated that it probably won't approve the application so we
have to act now to stop the cycle of keeping medical cannabis from sick and
dying patients.

Write Dr. Andrea Barthwell, Deputy Director for Demand Reduction, Office of
National Drug Control Policy, urging her to recommend that the DEA approve
the Umass/Amherst license:

Take Action Here

As a doctor and senior member of the Office of National Drug Control Policy,
Barthwell holds authority over this issue. Through news articles she has
become a vocal part of the Drug Czar's campaign against medical cannabis.
Her most recent article explicitly says that "If a substance has the proven
capacity to serve a medical purpose, then it will be accepted." Yet, Dr.
Barthwell, along with the Drug Czar, continues to support the governmental
stranglehold on cannabis production hindering such research.

See Dr. Barthwell's article here

NIDA produces only low-potency material with stems included meaning that
patients have to inhale more smoke to get any of the beneficial effects,
decreasing the chance FDA will approve it. The Umass/Amherst team wants to
produce a small quantity of high-potency cannabis. As long as NIDA retains
its monopoly on the supply of cannabis that can be used in research, no
rational sponsor will invest money in the research required to get cannabis
approved as a medicine. Your help is needed to break the government's
monopoly on the supply of cannabis in order to unshackle medical cannabis
research.

Again please contact Dr. Andrea Barthwell, Deputy Director for Demand
Reduction, Office of National Drug Control Policy, urging her to recommend
that the DEA approve the Umass/Amherst license:

Take Action Here

Thanks in advance!

Regards,

R. Keith Stroup, Esq,
Executive Director
NORML

Stop the Government Super-Snoop Plan

In a surprise development, the Senate has adopted legislation that would completely block funding for the Pentagon's infamous Terrorism Information Awareness program (formerly known as Total Information Awareness or TIA).

The Senate's ban was adopted as part of the 2004 defense spending bill. To become law and end the program that would indiscriminately track the daily activities of Americans, the ban must survive a joint House-Senate conference committee.

Opposition to the program has been unusually strong from across the political spectrum. Groups as disparate as the American Conservative Union and the ACLU have advocated against the development of this super-snoop system that would inevitably identify thousands of innocent people as potential terrorists. Yet the Bush Administration is threatening a veto of the defense bill if TIA is defunded.

Click here to get more information and send a free fax to your Members of Congress urging them to support a complete ban on TIA.

Support the Freedom to Read

Under the USA PATRIOT Act, the FBI gained the power to search your library and book-buying records without probable cause of any crime or intent to commit a crime. It also stops librarians and booksellers from telling you that this search has even occurred.

The FBI has been aggressively using these new powers without providing Congress with explanations about its activities. A University of Illinois survey shows libraries were targeted at least 175 times in the year after 9/11 -- yet the FBI refuses to explain how or why.

In response to these invasions of our civil liberties, a bipartisan group of Representatives have introduced an amendment to an appropriations bill that would restore many key checks and balances. This amendment will be voted on in the coming days and deserves our strong support.

Take Action! Click here for more information and to send a free fax to your Representative.

Support Corrections to the PATRIOT Act

From: Matt Howes, National Internet Organizer, ACLU
To: ACLU Action Network Members
Date: July 8, 2003

As Congress returns from its Independence Day break, now is the perfect time to remind our Representatives and Senators that we must continually defend the liberties and rights enshrined in our founding principles. One recent attack on these rights was the USA PATRIOT Act, a bill that Congress adopted just 45 days after the September 11 tragedies. This sweeping legislation undercuts many important checks and balances on government law enforcement and intelligence powers.

The PATRIOT Act and other post-9/11 government actions have created a groundswell of opposition from all parts of the political spectrum. Resolutions opposing the PATRIOT Act have been passed in 136 communities and three states. Taken together, these municipalities and states represent about 16.5 million people.

Instead of properly addressing the failure of law enforcement to identify and respond to threats to our safety, the Administration and Members of Congress rashly passed legislation that infringes on our freedoms and rights. The PATRIOT Act and other government actions need proper review and must be brought into line with the Constitution.

Click here for more information about the PATRIOT Act, the resolution movement and to send a free fax to your Members of Congress:

http://www.aclu.org/SafeandFree/SafeandFree.cfm?ID=13081&c=206

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For more information on other issues and the latest news, please visit our website at http://www.aclu.org

Help Strengthen the ACLU's Voice in Congress... Click below to become a card-carrying Member or donate today!
http://www.aclu.org/contribute/contribute.cfm?ORGID=AA02

If you are not already on our mailing list and would like to subscribe to the ACLU Action Network Updates, click http://www.aclu.org/team/member.cfm

To find out what more you can do to protect your civil liberties, please visit http://www.aclu.org/action

Help Abolish Guatemala's Notorious EMP

Urge Guatemala's President to Abolish the Estado Mayor Presidencial (Presidential Guard or EMP)

Oppose Constitutional Amendment Defining Marriage

You can read my views on gay marriage here, in my second-oldest Internet article, from December 1996.

Suffice it to say, I'm against a constitutional amendment defining marriage as being only between a man and a woman. If that's the direction our country's heading in, we might as well just start back up with witch trials too for good measure. And then maybe we could ban mixed-race marriages, and then cross-class marriages...and there's still time to return to the feudal system, while we're at it. Oh -- I know! we could make a constitutional amendment banning tongue rings. Those kinda gross me out a little.
</sarcastic rant>

From: Matt Howes, National Internet Organizer, ACLU
To: ACLU Action Network Members
Date: June 25, 2003

With Canada preparing to legalize gay marriages, religious right organizations are signaling their intent to push a constitutional amendment that would define marriage as strictly between a man and a woman. And a Supreme Court decision on gay rights expected later this week will likely incite them even further.

The proposed constitutional amendment would also destroy a wide range of rights that are important to the lives of unmarried persons (whether unmarried relatives, heterosexual couples, and gay and lesbian couples). Those legal protections include state and local civil rights laws prohibiting discrimination based on "marital status" and state laws protecting unmarried elderly couples who refrain from marrying in order to hold on to their pensions.

Take action to oppose writing discrimination into the Constitution. Click here to get more information and send a free fax to your Members of Congress.

http://www.aclu.org/LesbianGayRights/LesbianGayRights.cfm?ID=9977&c=101

****************************************************************
For more information on other issues and the latest news, please visit our website at http://www.aclu.org

Help Strengthen the ACLU's Voice in Congress... Click below to become a card-carrying Member or donate today!
http://www.aclu.org/contribute/contribute.cfm?ORGID=AA02

If you are not already on our mailing list and would like to subscribe to the ACLU Action Network Updates, click http://www.aclu.org/team/member.cfm

To find out what more you can do to protect your civil liberties, please visit http://www.aclu.org/action

Support the Freedom to Read Act

Dear Bill of Rights defender:

Getting the Freedom to Read Protection Act (HR 1157) passed is one of the first tests of the growing grassroots movement to restore and protect essential rights and liberties in the United States.  Our web page on the bill includes up-to-date information on current cosponsors by state and a petition you may download and use to show local support for the bill: http://www.bordc.org/freedomtoread.htm#petition.

If your House member is already a cosponsor of HR 1157, please thank him or her.  If he or she is not, please organize delegations to meet with your House member or a senior aide when the member is in your district, and call or write your member's district office and Washington office.

Members of the American Library Association have recently visited the Washington, DC, offices of many House members and provided us with the following list of those who especially need local follow-up.  The list is divided into districts with communities that include Civil Liberties Safe Zones and those that do not (yet!).

Districts that include Civil Liberties Safe Zones and need follow-up visits and local calls:

Arizona 1st, Rep. Rick Renzi
California 2nd, Rep. Wally Herger
Colorado 3rd, Rep. Scott McInnis
Colorado 4th, Rep. Marilyn Musgrave
Florida 6th, Rep. Cliff Stearns
Montana at-large, Rep. Denny Rehberg
New Hampshire 2nd, Rep. Charlie Bass
Oregon 2nd, Rep. Greg Walden
Pennsylvania 19th, Rep. Todd Platts
Tennessee 2nd, Rep. John Duncan

Other potential cosponsors who need follow-up visits and local calls:

Wisconsin 6th, Rep. Tom Petri (has expressed civil rights concerns with the Patriot Act)
Pennsylvania 8th, Rep. Jim Greenwood (moderate Republican)
Tennessee 1st, Rep. Bill Jenkins
California 3rd, Rep. Doug Ose
California 11th, Rep. Richard Pombo
Arizona 3rd, Rep. John Shadegg
Nevada 3rd, Rep. Jon Porter
Virginia 10th, Rep. Frank Wolf

For more information about the act and useful links, go to http://www.bordc.org/freedomtoread.htm.

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.
- Margaret Mead

Editor: Nancy Talanian, Codirector
Bill of Rights Defense Committee
140 Pine Street, Room 10
P.O. Box 60591
Florence, MA 01062

Web: www.bordc.org
Email: info@bordc.org (Please note: new email address!)
Telephone: 413-582-0110