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(Passed June 17, 2002)
Whereas, the residents of the City of Cambridge wish to honor the memory
of all those who have died as a result of the September 11 crimes and their
consequences; and
Whereas, the City of Cambridge has a tradition of inclusion and extending
protections to all its residents as embodied in its Human Rights Ordinance;
and
Whereas, the Bill of Rights of the United States Constitution and the
Constitution of Massachusetts guarantee those living in the United States
the following rights:
- Freedom of speech, assembly and privacy;
- Equality before the law and the presumption of innocence;
- Access 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
without warrants;
- Grants unchecked power to the Secretary of State to designate domestic
groups as "terrorist organizations";
- Grants power to the Attorney General to subject non-citizens to
indefinite detention or deportation even if they have not committed
a crime;
- 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
Whereas, Federal Executive Orders issued since passage of the USA PATRIOT
Act may further endanger the rights and security of both citizens and non-citizens
who speak and act legally in opposition to government policies through:
- Establishing secret military tribunals for terrorism suspects;
- Authorizing eavesdropping on confidential communications between lawyers
and their clients in federal custody;
- Lifting Justice Department regulations against covert, illegal counter-intelligence
operations by the FBI that in the past targeted domestic groups and
individuals;
- Limiting disclosure of public documents and records under the Freedom
of Information Act; and
Whereas, Cambridge's representative in Congress Michael Capuano, along
with his Massachusetts colleagues, Representatives Frank, McGovern, Olver,
and Tierney, found the USA PATRIOT Act inappropriate and dangerous enough
to join 66 other representatives in voting against it; 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 USA acting legally and speaking against in opposing
government policy and
Whereas, in Zadvydas v. Davis this past session the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed
that "the Due Process Clause applies to all 'persons' within the United
States, including aliens, whether their presence here is lawful, unlawful,
temporary, or permanent"; and
Whereas, a 1985 City Council resolution declared the City of Cambridge "A
Sanctuary City" in which city departments and employees are committed to
protect refugees from:
- Requests for information about, or conditioning receipt of city
services on, citizenship status;
- "Investigations or arrest procedures, public or clandestine, relating
to alleged violations of immigration law..."; and
- Deportation and dangerous returns to their homelands; and
Whereas, through its diversity committee, its support for the Immigrant
Voting Rights proposal, and its annual Holocaust commemoration resolution,
the City of Cambridge has gone on record "affirming of our diversity"
and the need to "be eternally vigilant against all forms of bigotry in
our community and elsewhere"; Therefore, be it
Resolved that the City of Cambridge reaffirm its status as "A Sanctuary
City," by protecting civil rights and civil liberties for all people consistent
with the Bill of Rights and the Massachusetts constitution and be it further
Resolved that the City of Cambridge affirm its commitment to embodying democracy,
to embracing and defending the human rights and civil liberties now under
siege, to guaranteeing the economic security required to make those liberties
viable for all, regardless of citizenship status, gender, racial identification,
religious affiliation, age, or country of origin; and be it further
Resolved that the City Council, as directed by the city manager, declares
that no City of Cambridge department or employee, to the extent legally
possible, violate this city's existing and herewith reaffirmed policy to
serve as a sanctuary for civil rights and civil liberties; and further
Resolved that it shall be the policy of the City of Cambridge, to the
extent legally possible, and as directed by the city manager, to hereby
request that:
- Local law enforcement continue to preserve residents' freedom of
speech, religion, assembly, and privacy; rights to counsel and due
process in judicial proceedings; and protection from unreasonable
searches and seizures even if requested or authorized to infringe
upon these rights by federal law enforcement acting under new powers
granted by the USA PATRIOT Act or orders of the federal Executive
Branch
- The City Manager inform federal and state law enforcement officials
acting within the city of our desire that they not engage in or permit
detentions without charges or racial profiling in law enforcement;
further that the Cambridge Police department not engage in racial
profiling or detention without charges; and
- The local U.S. Attorney's office, the Office of the Federal Bureau
of Investigation, Massachusetts State Police, and local law enforcement
authorities and city departments report to the Cambridge Human Rights
Commission regularly and publicly the extent to and manner in which
they have acted under the USA PATRIOT Act and new Executive orders,
including disclosing the names of any detainees held in eastern Massachusetts
or any Cambridge residents detained elsewhere; and be it further
Resolved that the city clerk communicate this resolution to all city departments,
the General Court, the Governor and Attorney General of the Commonwealth
of Massachusetts, the Massachusetts Congressional delegation, the United
States Attorney General, and the President of the United States; and be
it further
Resolved that the provisions of this resolution shall be severable, and
if any phrase, clause, sentence, or provision of this resolution is declared
by a court of competent jurisdiction to be contrary to the constitution
of the united states or of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts or the applicability
thereof to any agency, person, or circumstances is held invalid, the validity
of the remainder of this resolution and the applicability thereof to any
other agency, person or circumstances shall not be affected thereby.
Amended Order Calendar Item #1
Vice Mayor Davis, Councillor Decker, Councillor Murphy
Passed June 17, 2002 Yeas 5; Nays 4 |