[1494] in peace2
draft resolution, concert march 16
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Catherine B. Hoffman)
Mon Feb 25 15:51:25 2002
From: CHoffman@CI.Cambridge.MA.US (Catherine B. Hoffman)
To: concert@MIT.EDU, cambridge.peace.ujp@MIT.EDU
Date: Mon, 25 Feb 2002 14:31:03 -0500
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here is second draft of a city council resolution for your review.
the civil liberties/concert group is meeting tonight at 7 PM at the
Peace Commission, 51 Inman Street Central Square.
The Concert-
TAKING BACK THE MUSIC/TAKING BACK OUR
FREEDOM is on for Saturday, March 16, 7-10 at the
Cambridge YWCA. We are still looking for musicians, help,
outreach, media, etc.
A RESOLUTION TO THE CAMBRIDGE CITY COUNCIL
WHEREAS the residents of the City of Cambridge wish to
honor the memory of all those who have died as a result of the
September 11 crimes and their consequences; and
WHEREAS the city of Cambridge has a tradition of inclusion
and extending protections to all its residents as embodied in its
Human Rights Ordinance and
WHEREAS the city of Cambridge in times of repression has
extended itself to those most at risk as embodied in the 1985
City Council resolution declaring the City of Cambridge "A
Sanctuary City" in which city departments and employees are
committed to protect refugees from:
Requests for information about, or conditioning receipt of city
services on citizenship status; ."Investigations or arrest
procedures, public or clandestine, relating to alleged violations of
immigration law...";.and to provide a "safe haven" in the face of
deportation and dangerous returns to their homelands and
WHEREAS: the City of Cambridge has gone on record "affirming of our
diversity" and the need to " be eternally vigilant against all forms of
bigotry in our community and elsewhere and must speak out against any
form of prejudice which can seep into the fabric of our lives providing a
breeding ground for tyranny to flourish" in its annual Holocaust
commemoration resolution, through its Diversity Committee and its
support for Immigrant Voting Rights proposal ; and
WHEREAS the Bill of Rights of the United States Constitution
and the Constitution of Massachusetts guarantee those living in
the United States the following rights:
-Freedom of speech, assembly and privacy;
- Equality before the law and the presumption of innocence;
- The rights to counsel and due process in judicial proceedings;
and
- Protection from unreasonable searches and seizures; and
WHEREAS we believe these civil liberties are precious and are
now threatened by
the USA PATRIOT Act, which:
- All but eliminates judicial supervision of telephone and Internet
surveillance;
- Greatly expands the government's ability to conduct secret
searches without warrants;
- Grants unchecked power to the Secretary of State to
designate domestic groups as "terrorist organizations";
- Grants power to the Attorney General to subject non-citizens
to indefinite detention or deportation even if they have not
committed a crime;
- Grants the FBI broad access to sensitive medical, mental
health, financial and educational records about individuals
without having to show evidence of a crime and without a court
order; and
Federal Executive Orders which
- Establish secret military tribunals for terrorism suspects;
- Authorize eavesdropping on confidential communications
between lawyers and their clients in federal custody;
- Lift Justice Department regulations against covert, illegal
counter-intelligence operations by the FBI that in the past
targeted domestic groups and individuals; and
Limitdisclosure of public documents and records under the
Freedom of Information Act; and
WHEREAS this law and these Executive Orders particularly
target foreign nationals and people of Middle Eastern and South
Asian descent but could affect any one of us in the USA acting
legally and speaking against in opposing government policy and
WHEREAS Cambridge's representative in Congress Michael
Capuano, along with his Massachusetts colleagues,
Representatives Frank, McGovern, Olver, and Tierney, found
the USA PATRIOT Act inappropriate and dangerous enough to
join 61 other representatives in voting against it; Therefore, be it
RESOLVED that the City of Cambridge reaffirm its status as "A
Sanctuary City," and respond to the criminal events of
September 11 by defending the human rights protections and
civil liberties for all spelled out in the Bill of Rights and the
Massachusetts constitution because, without these, little is left of
the democracy or justice they intend to protect; and be it further
RESOLVED that the City of Cambridge affirm its commitment
to embodying democracy, to embracing and defending the
human rights and civil liberties now under siege, to guaranteeing
the economic security required to make those liberties viable for
all, regardless of citizenship status, gender, racial identification,
religious affiliation, age, or country of origin; and be it further
RESOLVED that the City Council declares that no City of
Cambridge department or employee, to the extent legally
possible, violate this city's existing and herewith reaffirmed policy
to serve as a sanctuary for the persecuted; be it further
RESOLVED that the government of the City of Cambridge act
in the spirit of our state and federal Constitutions by asking local
and state police, the local U.S. Attorney's office, and the FBI to:
1. Report to citizens regularly and publicly the extent to and
manner in which they have acted under the USA PATRlOT Act
or new Executive Orders, including disclosing the names of any
detainees;
2. Not participate, to the extent legally permissible, in law-
enforcement activities that threaten civil rights and civil liberties
of the people of Cambridge, such as surveillance, wiretaps, and
securing of private information, which the Act and Orders
authorize;
3. End racial profiling in law enforcement and detentions without
charges; and
4. Openly work for the repeal of the parts of the Act and
Orders that violate civil rights and civil liberties.
