City of Baltimore Council Resolution 03-1046
Introduced by: Council Member Abayomi
Preservation of Civil Liberties Resolution - USA Patriot Act
For the purpose of defending the civil liberties and civil rights of all
individuals living in Baltimore City.
WHEREAS, the City of Baltimore recognizes the Constitution of the United
States of America to be the supreme law of the land, which all public
servants are sworn to uphold; and
WHEREAS, the City of Baltimore greatly benefits from the many contributions
of its highly diverse population, which includes people from around the
world, and is vital to our city's unique character; and
WHEREAS, the City of Baltimore is a major international port and recognizes
its unique position to maintain prosperous relationships with all nations; and
WHEREAS, government security measures that undermine fundamental rights do
damage to the American institutions and values that the residents of the
City of Baltimore hold dear;
WHEREAS the Council of the City of Baltimore believes that there is no
inherent conflict between national security and the preservation of liberty
- Americans can be both safe and free;
WHEREAS federal policies adopted since September 11, 2001, including
provisions in the USA PATRIOT Act (Public Law 107-56) and related executive
orders, regulations and actions threaten fundamental rights and liberties by;
(a) authorizing the indefinite incarceration of non-citizens based on mere
suspicion, and the indefinite incarceration of citizens designated by the
President as "enemy combatants" without access to counsel or meaningful
recourse to the federal courts;
(b) limiting the traditional authority of federal courts to curb law
enforcement abuse of electronic surveillance in anti-terrorism
investigations and ordinary criminal investigations;
(c) expanding the authority of federal agents to conduct so-called "sneak
and peak" or "black bag" searches, in which the subject of the search
warrant is unaware that his property has been searched;
(d) granting law enforcement and intelligence agencies broad access to
personal medical, financial, library and education records with little if
any judicial oversight;
(e) chilling constitutionally protected speech through overbroad
definitions of "terrorism";
(f) driving a wedge between immigrant communities and the police that
protect them by encouraging involvement of state and local police in
enforcement of federal immigration law;
(g) permitting the FBI to conduct surveillance of religious services,
internet chatrooms, political demonstrations, and other public meetings of
any kind without having any evidence that a crime has been or may be
committed;
WHEREAS these new powers have and will pose a particular threat to the
civil rights and liberties of the residents of our city; and
WHEREAS new legislation has been drafted by the Administration entitled the
Domestic Security Enhancement Act (DSEA) (also known as PATRIOT II) which
contains a multitude of new and sweeping law enforcement and intelligence
gathering powers, many of which are not related to terrorism, that would
severely dilute, if not undermine, many basic constitutional rights, as
well as disturb our unique system of checks and balances by:
(a) diminishing personal privacy by removing important checks on government
surveillance authority,
(b) reduce the accountability of government to the public by increasing
government secrecy,
(c) expanding the definition of "terrorism" in a manner that threatens the
constitutionally protected rights of Americans, and
(d) seriously erode the right of all persons to due process of law.
WHEREAS, the City of Baltimore recognizes that an infringement of the
constitutionally guaranteed rights of any person, under the color of law,
is an abuse of power, and a breach of the public trust, a misappropriation
of public resources, a violation of civil rights and is beyond the scope of
governmental authority.
NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BALTIMORE
remains firmly committed to the protection of civil rights and civil
liberties for all people. The City of Baltimore will completely avoid
discrimination in every function of city government, and vigorously uphold
the constitutionally protected rights of all persons to peacefully protest
and express their political views without any form of governmental
interference.
IT IS HEREBY FURTHER RESOLVED that the City of Baltimore joins communities
across the nation in expressing concerns regarding provisions in the USA
PATRIOT Act (Public Law 107-56), related executive orders, regulations and
actions threaten fundamental rights and liberties guaranteed under the
United States Constitution.
IT IS HEREBY FURTHER RESOLVED that the Council of the City of Baltimore:
1. Directs the Police Department of the City of Baltimore to:
a. Refrain from enforcing immigration matters, which are entirely the
responsibility of the Department of Homeland Security. No city service will
be denied on the basis of citizenship; and
b. Refrain from engaging in the surveillance of individuals or groups of
individuals based on their participation in activities protected by the
First Amendment, such as political advocacy or the practice of a religion,
without particularized suspicion of criminal activity unrelated to the
activity protected by the First Amendment;
c. Refrain from utilizing racial profiling or religious profiling as
factors in selecting which individuals to subject to investigatory
activities except when seeking to apprehend a specific suspect whose race,
religion, ethnicity or national origin is part of the description of the
suspect; and
d. Refrain, whether acting alone or with federal or state law enforcement
officers, from collecting or maintaining information about the political,
religious or social views, associations or activities of any individual,
group, association, organization, corporation, business or partnership
unless such information directly relates to an investigation of criminal
activities, and there are reasonable grounds to suspect the subject of the
information is or may be involved in criminal conduct; and
e. Refrain from undertaking or participating in any initiative, such as the
Terrorism Information and Prevention System (TIPS), that encourages members
of the general public to spy on their neighbors, colleagues or customers; and
f. Refrain from using racial profiling to stop drivers or pedestrians for
the purpose of scrutinizing their identification documents without
particularized suspicion of criminal activity; and
g. Report to the city council any request by federal authorities that, if
granted, would cause agencies of the City of Baltimore to exercise or
cooperate in the exercise of powers in apparent violation of any city
ordinance or the laws or Constitution of this State or the United States.
2. Directs public libraries within the City of Baltimore to post in a
prominent place within the library a notice to library users as follows:
"WARNING: Under Section 215 of the federal USA PATRIOT Act (Public Law
107-56), records of the books and other materials you borrow from this
library may be obtained by federal agents. That federal law prohibits
librarians from informing you if federal agents have obtained records about
you. Questions about this policy should be directed to: Attorney General
John Ashcroft, Department of Justice, Washington, DC 20530";
3. Directs the City Council Chief of Staff to:
a. Transmit a copy of this resolution to Senators Barbara Mikulski and Paul
Sarbanes, and Representatives Elijah Cummings, Dutch Ruppersberger and
Roscoe Bartlett accompanied by a letter urging them to monitor federal
anti-terrorism tactics and work to repeal provisions of the USA PATRIOT ACT
and other laws and regulations that infringe on civil rights and liberties.
And to take all possible actions to lead Congressional action to prohibit
passage of the DSEA; and
b. Transmit a copy of this resolution to Governor Robert Ehrlich, and
appropriate members of the State Legislature, accompanied by a letter
urging them to ensure that state anti-terrorism laws and policies be
implemented in a manner that does not infringe on civil liberties as
described in this resolution; and
c. Transmit a copy of this resolution to President George W. Bush and
Attorney General John Ashcroft.
