Joint Release

Carbondale City Council to vote on resolution urging Congress to amend the USA PATRIOT Act

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

CARBONDALE, Jan. 30, 2004—The Carbondale City Council will vote Tuesday, February 3, on adopting a resolution that urges a series of actions by Congress and the President to “restore and protect our nation’s fundamental and inalienable rights and liberties,” according to the Council’s agenda released Friday.

The resolution “supports the sunset of key provisions of the Patriot Act,” and it urges the President and executive branch to “review, revise, and rescind executive orders and policies adopted since the terrorist attacks [of September 11, 2001], that limit or compromise the liberties guaranteed by the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.”

The resolution affirms support for two bills in Congress that have the aim of restoring rights put in jeopardy by the PATRIOT act. The “Freedom to Read Protection Act of 2003” would “reinstate legal standards for libraries and bookstores,” countering those provisions of the PATRIOT Act that give the government power to secretly view library circulation records. And the “Protecting the Rights of Individuals Act” would reaffirm the requirement of a court order for conducting electronic surveillance.

These actions are in response to “the threats against civil liberties embodied in certain provisions of the PATRIOT Act,” according to the resolution.

Representataives of four civic organizations—the Shawnee Green Party, the Southern Illinois Libertarians, the Southern Illinois Chapter of the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union), and the Peace Coalition of Southern Illinois—requested the City Council at its January 20 meeting to place a resolution opposing the PATRIOT Act on the agenda for its next meeting. The groups presented the text of a resolution along with their request.

On February 3, the Council will consider a substitute resolution, based on a resolution adopted by the National League of Cities, an organization that represents 18,000 municipalities throughout the United States. The text of the proposed resolution is available at < http://ci.carbondale.il.us/Agenda%20Items/Item%206.2%20Civil%20Liberties.pdf >.

Press Contact:
Jim Syler
Chair
Southern Illinois Libertarians
(618) 303-0019