Somerville Becomes Civil Liberties Safe Zone

On Thursday, March 11th, the Somerville Board of Aldermen unanimously
passed the Civil Liberties Safe Zone resolution, making Somerville the
264th community to protect its residents from the USA PATRIOT Act.

Over 1,100 Somerville residents signed a petition in favor of the
resolution. "The outpouring of support we had from people signing
the petition was amazing," said Abi Harper, one of the authors
of the Somerville resolution.

The ill-named USA PATRIOT Act, a messy piece of legislation passed in
the panic immediately following September 11th, violates many of the
rights guaranteed to Americans. Parts of the Act have already been
ruled unconstitutional, and challenges are underway against more of
it.

Among other things, the act (and accompanying executive orders) allow
the government to search your house without a warrant, spy on your
medical records and book purchases, tap your phone without probable
cause, and put you in prison without charging you with a crime.

Somerville adds to the growing clamor against the Act, coming from
both Republicans and Democrats. Groups as diverse as the ACLU and the
Eagle Forum oppose the Act, and pressure is mounting in Congress to
repeal the objectionable parts of the law.

Somerville is in good company: Washington D.C., New York City, Los
Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas, Seattle, and Detroit have all
got resolutions, to name just a few. Here in the Boston area,
so have Arlington, Cambridge, Brookline, and Newton.

For more information on the USA PATRIOT Act and efforts to oppose
it in Somerville, contact the Somerville Bill of Rights Defense 
Committee in email at info@municipalfreedom.org, on the web at 
http://www.municipalfreedom.org/ or call (617) 764-2357.