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I
support the local Bill of Rights Defense Committee resolution against the
Patriot Act and urge you to avoid further delay on this resolution and
ensure that it is on the Dallas City Council agenda AS A VOTING ITEM on
December 17th.
(i)
This is a
NONPARTISAN issue relating to basic American freedoms important to us all
(see the diverse list of supporters at
www.bordcdallas.org).
(ii) This
is a LOCAL issue that affects MY core concerns and activism of ANY sort. I
believe that the PATRIOT ACT was ill advised from the beginning and
continues to erode the Bill of Rights and the Constitution. What kind of
Democratic Republic are we if we treat citizens in a way more closely
resembling the former USSR? While I am not saying that that is where we are
right now, I believe the PATRIOT ACT is the slippery slope that turns
immediate fears into long-term catastrophes.
I believe that the rights of Dallas residents HAVE ALREADY BEEN and are
still being affected by the increased spying by joint FBI/local law
enforcement task forces on Dallas homes, mosques, libraries, and businesses
and peaceful nonprofit organizations of all types (read the Dallas Morning
News "Strike Back" editorial from Mon. Dec. 1st on such spying), by local
librarians who have risked jail by going against the Patriot Act's 'gag
order' by letting us know that they've already been contacted by law
enforcement for patrons' records, and by the chilling effect on all our
local freedom and safety when debate about security vulnerabilities and
government errors and abuses is quashed, dissent is discouraged through
increased surveillance and broad definitions of terrorism, discriminatory
law enforcement is again allowed, and core Bill of Rights protections are
invaded (against the sworn oath of office taken by the Mayor, City Council
members, and police to uphold the Constitution and Bill of Rights as the
highest law of the land);
(iii)
That this is a matter of TRULY EFFECTIVE LOCAL SECURITY, which is better
served by focused and fact-based law enforcement based on reasonable
suspicion and probable cause (as opposed for example to overbroad or
discriminatory measures depending on stereotypes or guilt-by-association,
like profiling based on skin color, national origin, or religion), and
tolerance for peaceful dissent that helps expose government abuses and
cover-ups. The overbroad measures, by contrast, divert tax dollars and law
enforcement resources from true terrorists and criminals, and?by increasing
distrust and fear?reduce cooperation from local communities that are
essential for catching law-breakers.
I am confident that Dallas leaders want to believe that we already have law
enforcement based on reasonable suspicion and probable cause. I do not
believe that to be the case, but what I do believe is that our leaders in
the Police Department and City Hall had been working to change that legacy
before the PATRIOT ACT, and the PATRIOT ACT slowed down the progress by
increasing distrust and fear. |
