John Whitehead's Commentary
American Cities Show Spirit of Resistance to U.S.A. Patriot Act
"What country can preserve its liberties, if its rulers are not warned from time to time that its people preserve the spirit of resistance?" --Thomas Jefferson
We often underestimate the potential strength of those who appear to be weak and powerless. We have forgotten that it was a seemingly weak and powerless group of patriots, fueled by immense courage, who established the basis of American freedom. Faced with what appeared to be overwhelming odds, a handful of people resisted the British Empire and planted the seeds of democracy--all rooted in the right to resist illegitimate government actions. As one of those fearless patriots, Thomas Jefferson, proclaimed: "The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions that I wish it to be always kept alive." Now, in a fitting tribute to the man who crafted our Declaration of Independence, Jefferson's hometown of Charlottesville, Va., has added its name to the growing list of cities opposing the U.S.A. Patriot Act.
Since the act was passed in the fall of 2001, more than 16 million people in 26 states some 165 cities nationwide have adopted resolutions affirming their commitment to civil liberties and condemning the 342-page Patriot Act as a threat to those rights. Although the act passed by an overwhelming majority in both houses of Congress (356-66 in the House, 98-1 in the Senate), many members later confessed to barely reading it. Unfortunately, our representatives' oversight resulted in a piece of legislation that is one of the most subversive ever to our Constitution.
For example, under the Patriot Act, many of the freedoms afforded in the Bill of Rights have been greatly weakened. In the name of fighting terrorism, government officials are now permitted to monitor religious and political institutions without having a suspicion of criminal wrongdoing; prosecute librarians or keepers of any other records if they tell anyone that the government subpoenaed information related to a terror investigation; monitor conversations between attorneys and clients; search and seize Americans' papers and effects without showing probable cause; and jail Americans indefinitely without a trial, among other things.
Leading the charge to oppose the Patriot Act are Bill of Rights Defense Committees, small groups made up of concerned citizens and community members determined to protect their towns from the government's overly broad reach. Their actions are reminiscent of the pre-revolutionary Committees of Correspondence that were initiated by Sam Adams and other Sons of Liberty in Boston in 1767.
Among the first cities to adopt resolutions opposing the Patriot Act were Berkeley, Santa Cruz and Sebastopol, Calif.; Denver and Boulder, Colo.; Ann Arbor, Mich.; Santa Fe, N.M.; Eugene, Ore.; Burlington, Vt.; and Madison, Wisc. And while the resolutions vary from city to city, they reflect communal criticism of the federal government's heightened powers under the Patriot Act. For instance, the resolution passed by the people of Madison, Wisc., states: "The City of Madison recognizes that such infringement of the constitutionally guaranteed rights of any person, under the color of law, is an abuse of power, a breach of the public trust, a misappropriation of public resources, a violation of civil rights, and is beyond the scope of governmental authority."
According to USA Today, many cities have taken their resistance beyond mere words. In Berkeley, Calif., public library director Jackie Griffin purges records of all returned books each day and erases the list of websites visited on the library's 50 Internet terminals. Officials in Portland, Ore., have declined to cooperate with federal agents who may serve warrants that can remain secret under the Patriot Act. And in Arcata, Calif., the City Council passed an ordinance in April barring city workers from enforcing the Patriot Act.
A recent report by Inspector General Glenn A. Fine of the Department of Justice gives credence to fears that the Patriot Act will result in Americans' civil rights being routinely violated. For example, the report cites dozens of cases in which DOJ employees have been accused of serious civil rights and civil liberties violations in relation to their enforcement of the Patriot Act. A separate report released earlier this year addressed problems in the department's treatment of hundreds of illegal immigrants rounded up after the Sept. 11 attacks.
Although some representatives have attempted to make amends for their oversight by bringing the somewhat arrogant Attorney General, John Ashcroft, before the House Judiciary Committee for questioning, the far-reaching impact of the Patriot Act continues to be felt in communities far and wide. Indeed, in the six month period from December 2002 to June 2003, the Department of Justice received over 1,100 complaints suggesting Patriot Act-related civil rights violations.
In the past year, I have heard many Americans express their sense of powerlessness in regard to the actions of our government. People are unsure how to fight back--or even if it's possible. But as these 165 plus cities show by their resolutions, even a symbolic show of resistance illustrates that the spirit of resistance is alive and well.
"You're either part of the solution," wrote the 1960s African-American activist Eldridge Cleaver, "or you're part of the problem." And as we see our freedoms increasingly under attack, we can take hope in the fact that communities across America are becoming part of the solution. After all, this is a country where one has a right to resist. More than that, it is a place where more people are beginning to exercise that right.
Constitutional attorney and author John W. Whitehead is founder and president of The Rutherford Institute. He can be contacted at johnw@rutherford.org.
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We often underestimate the potential strength of those who appear to be weak and powerless. We have forgotten that it was a seemingly weak and powerless group of patriots, fueled by immense courage, who established the basis of American freedom. Faced with what appeared to be overwhelming odds, a handful of people resisted the British Empire and planted the seeds of democracy--all rooted in the right to resist illegitimate government actions. As one of those fearless patriots, Thomas Jefferson, proclaimed: "The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions that I wish it to be always kept alive." Now, in a fitting tribute to the man who crafted our Declaration of Independence, Jefferson's hometown of Charlottesville, Va., has added its name to the growing list of cities opposing the U.S.A. Patriot Act.
Since the act was passed in the fall of 2001, more than 16 million people in 26 states some 165 cities nationwide have adopted resolutions affirming their commitment to civil liberties and condemning the 342-page Patriot Act as a threat to those rights. Although the act passed by an overwhelming majority in both houses of Congress (356-66 in the House, 98-1 in the Senate), many members later confessed to barely reading it. Unfortunately, our representatives' oversight resulted in a piece of legislation that is one of the most subversive ever to our Constitution.
For example, under the Patriot Act, many of the freedoms afforded in the Bill of Rights have been greatly weakened. In the name of fighting terrorism, government officials are now permitted to monitor religious and political institutions without having a suspicion of criminal wrongdoing; prosecute librarians or keepers of any other records if they tell anyone that the government subpoenaed information related to a terror investigation; monitor conversations between attorneys and clients; search and seize Americans' papers and effects without showing probable cause; and jail Americans indefinitely without a trial, among other things.
Leading the charge to oppose the Patriot Act are Bill of Rights Defense Committees, small groups made up of concerned citizens and community members determined to protect their towns from the government's overly broad reach. Their actions are reminiscent of the pre-revolutionary Committees of Correspondence that were initiated by Sam Adams and other Sons of Liberty in Boston in 1767.
Among the first cities to adopt resolutions opposing the Patriot Act were Berkeley, Santa Cruz and Sebastopol, Calif.; Denver and Boulder, Colo.; Ann Arbor, Mich.; Santa Fe, N.M.; Eugene, Ore.; Burlington, Vt.; and Madison, Wisc. And while the resolutions vary from city to city, they reflect communal criticism of the federal government's heightened powers under the Patriot Act. For instance, the resolution passed by the people of Madison, Wisc., states: "The City of Madison recognizes that such infringement of the constitutionally guaranteed rights of any person, under the color of law, is an abuse of power, a breach of the public trust, a misappropriation of public resources, a violation of civil rights, and is beyond the scope of governmental authority."
According to USA Today, many cities have taken their resistance beyond mere words. In Berkeley, Calif., public library director Jackie Griffin purges records of all returned books each day and erases the list of websites visited on the library's 50 Internet terminals. Officials in Portland, Ore., have declined to cooperate with federal agents who may serve warrants that can remain secret under the Patriot Act. And in Arcata, Calif., the City Council passed an ordinance in April barring city workers from enforcing the Patriot Act.
A recent report by Inspector General Glenn A. Fine of the Department of Justice gives credence to fears that the Patriot Act will result in Americans' civil rights being routinely violated. For example, the report cites dozens of cases in which DOJ employees have been accused of serious civil rights and civil liberties violations in relation to their enforcement of the Patriot Act. A separate report released earlier this year addressed problems in the department's treatment of hundreds of illegal immigrants rounded up after the Sept. 11 attacks.
Although some representatives have attempted to make amends for their oversight by bringing the somewhat arrogant Attorney General, John Ashcroft, before the House Judiciary Committee for questioning, the far-reaching impact of the Patriot Act continues to be felt in communities far and wide. Indeed, in the six month period from December 2002 to June 2003, the Department of Justice received over 1,100 complaints suggesting Patriot Act-related civil rights violations.
In the past year, I have heard many Americans express their sense of powerlessness in regard to the actions of our government. People are unsure how to fight back--or even if it's possible. But as these 165 plus cities show by their resolutions, even a symbolic show of resistance illustrates that the spirit of resistance is alive and well.
"You're either part of the solution," wrote the 1960s African-American activist Eldridge Cleaver, "or you're part of the problem." And as we see our freedoms increasingly under attack, we can take hope in the fact that communities across America are becoming part of the solution. After all, this is a country where one has a right to resist. More than that, it is a place where more people are beginning to exercise that right.
Constitutional attorney and author John W. Whitehead is founder and president of The Rutherford Institute. He can be contacted at johnw@rutherford.org.
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ABOUT JOHN W. WHITEHEAD
Constitutional attorney and author John W. Whitehead is founder and president of The Rutherford Institute. His most recent books are the best-selling Battlefield America: The War on the American People, the award-winning A Government of Wolves: The Emerging American Police State, and a debut dystopian fiction novel, The Erik Blair Diaries. Whitehead can be contacted at staff@rutherford.org. Nisha Whitehead is the Executive Director of The Rutherford Institute. Information about The Rutherford Institute is available at www.rutherford.org.
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