E-Actions for Freedom: Volunteering Archives

July 08, 2003

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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Posted by Lance Brown at 09:16 PM | Comments (0)

June 21, 2003

Support the Freedom to Read Act

This Act seeks to exempt libraries and bookstores from the USA-PATRIOT Act's ultra-lenient search and seizure requirements for personal records. It's a small step in the right direction, and it has a significant amount of support. Here's the update as received from the Bill of Rights Defense Committee, one of the predominant USA-PATRIOT Act opposition groups. (The BORDC will be featured in its own action item soon.) The page they link to has a ton of information about the issue.

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

To subscribe, go to the Bill of Rights Defense Committee's web site and click on the Subscribe button on the left.

Posted by Lance Brown at 11:57 PM | Comments (0)

November 2003