City takes civil rights stand
- By Cadence Mertz --- Free Press Staff Writer
The city of Burlington took a stand Monday against the USA Patriot Act, a federal law passed in October 2001 as an antidote to the attacks of Sept. 11.
In a 10-2 vote, city councilors approved sending a strong message of opposition to the broad powers the federal act gives to law enforcement. The Patriot Act is too broad and will erode civil liberties, councilors said.
The vote was met with applause from onlookers, some of whom spoke passionately against the federal law. Residents and councilors opposing the Patriot Act likened it to McCarthyism and the World War II internment of Japanese-American citizens.
"It is the most unpatriotic thing that has ever been written," local resident Jerry Trudell told city councilors, before raising his voice to loudly repeat Patrick Henry's famed line, "Give me liberty, or give me death."
Councilors Kevin Curley and Gene Shaver, both R-Ward 4, opposed the resolution. Curley said city councilors have more locally relevant issues to tackle. Shaver said the Patriot Act grants law enforcement needed tools to prevent terrorist attacks. Councilors Bill Keogh, D-Ward 5, and Phil Fiermonte, P-Ward 3, were absent.
Burlington is among more than a dozen cities and towns nationwide that have passed similar resolutions.
The resolution asks Vermont's congressional delegation to monitor how the Patriot Act is implemented and work for the repeal of portions of the law. The resolution also asks Burlington police to provide public reports on how the department uses the Patriot Act, including providing the names of any local detainees held under the act.
"Of course, we all want to be safe, but we need to find an acceptable balance between personal safety and personal privacy," said Councilor Doug Dunbebin, P-Ward 3, who co-sponsored the local measure with Richard Kemp, P-Ward 5.
Councilor Gene Shaver, R-Ward 4, in a memo to councilors urged the rejection of Dunbebin and Kemp's proposal. Dunbebin and Kemp base their opposition on information supplied by the American Civil Liberties Union, Shaver wrote. Councilors should consider the federal government's evidence for why the Patriot Act is necessary to protect U.S. citizens from terrorism, he wrote.
The Progressives' proposed resolution questions specific parts of the Patriot Act, including:
-- The near elimination of judicial supervision of telephone and Internet surveillance.
-- Allowing the attorney general to broadly designate domestic groups as terrorist organizations.
-- Giving law enforcement access to medical, library, business and educational records.
Dunbebin said his constituents came to him concerned about the Patriot Act. The city of Burlington might have little power to directly sway federal government, but the City Council can at least make residents' opinions known, he said.
A discussion of the Patriot Act in a public forum, such as tonight's City Council meeting, forces dialogue on the subject, Kemp said. The city would send the approved resolution to Vermont's congressional delegation.
The local measure is supported by a letter from the Vermont Library Association's Executive Board to the state's lawmakers in Washington, D.C. Librarians are concerned that the Patriot Act would force libraries to turn over users' reading selections.
Rep. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., said he uses such resolutions as guides when working on policy. He said he might or might not vote in line with the resolution.
"We take that certainly into consideration," Sanders said. "It tells us that a city or a town feels strongly about an issue, and we should pay attention to that issue."
Burlington Police Chief Alana Ennis said the Patriot Act is unlikely to have an impact on her department.
"We're not going to do anything against the Constitution. That's what we're sworn to uphold," Ennis said.
The federal law allows for broad interpretation of suspicious activity, said Kemp, who requested his file from the FBI and was alarmed to find the agency knew he hung posters of Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King Jr. on his wall.
"I think it would affect any kind of person who wants to bring up objections to what the government is doing," Kemp said. "It's almost terrorism in reverse."
Contact Cadence Mertz at 660-1847 or cmertz@bfp.burlingtonfreepress.com.
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