Petition To Durham City and County Officials

Re:  Protecting the Bill of Rights of the U.S Constitution and the Constitution of North Carolina

 

Whereas, the Bill of Rights of the United States Constitution and the Constitution of North Carolina guarantee those living in the

United States the following rights:

·     Freedom of speech, assembly, and privacy;

·     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;

·     Gives the Attorney General and the Secretary of State the power to designate domestic groups as "terrorist organizations"; and

·     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 by Federal Executive Orders, which

·     Establish secret military tribunals for terrorism suspects;

·     Permit wiretapping of conversations between federal prisoners and their lawyers;

·     Lift Justice Department regulations against illegal COINTELPRO-type operations by the FBI (covert activities that in the past

        targeted domestic groups and individuals);

·     Limit the disclosure 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 United States who is acting and speaking legally in opposing government policy; and

Whereas, the Executive Order on secret military tribunals also undermines the U.S. government's ability to denounce atrocities carried out in secret by military tribunals elsewhere in the world; and

Whereas, several law enforcement officials, including previous heads of the FBI, have decried the USA PATRIOT Act and these Executive Orders as unnecessary to the prosecution of, and protection from, terrorism;

Therefore, we the people of Durham, North Carolina, call on our local government to 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:

·     Report to citizens regularly and publicly the extent to and manner in which they have acted under the USA PATRIOT Act,

        new Executive Orders, or COINTELPRO-type regulations, including disclosing the names of any detainees;

·     End racial profiling in law enforcement and detentions without charges;

·     Not participate, to the extent legally permissible, in law enforcement activities that threaten civil rights and civil liberties of the

       people of Durham, such as surveillance, wiretaps, and obtaining  private information, which the Act and Orders authorize; and

·     Openly work for the repeal of the parts of the Act and Orders that violate civil rights and civil liberties.

                                                                                Notify me of  Bill of Rights Defense activities

 Name                    Street Address                                                                      (Y/N)                       If yes, e-mail or phone

 

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Please return completed petitions to:  Durham Bill of Rights Defense Committee, 2403 Prince St., Durham NC 27707

For more information contact us at [email protected], or visit web site http://www.geocities.com/durham_bordc