NAAP-NY Supports Defense of Civil Liberties and Rights
CONGRATULATIONS! On February 4, 2004, Resolution 60 (formely 909) was adoped by the New York City Council!
NAAP-NY Supports Defense of Civil Liberties and Rights
NAAP-NY will join representatives of immigrant, civil rights, union and community groups from all five boroughs and testify in support of the Defense of Bill of Rights Resolution on Monday, October 20, at 10:00 a.m. in the Committee Room of City Hall.
Resolution 909, before the Government Operations Committee chaired by Deputy Majority Leader Bill Perkins, opposes post-9/11 curtailments of civil liberties and rights. Twenty-seven City Council Members have already signed on as co-sponsors. Over 185 cities, towns, and three states have passed such resolutions.
"Since September 11, the Arab Community has been victimized by FBI misconduct, defamed by public figures, and stripped of civil liberties based simply on Arab ethnicity," said Amber Kasim, representative for NAAP-NY. "The 'war on terrorism' has made suspects of Arabs and our exercise of free speech, expression and association are being scrutinized in the name of national security."
"Resolution 909 affirms NYC's respect for civil liberties and civil rights," said Perkins, the resolution's primary sponsor. "Even as we are dealing with the tragedy of 9/11, we as a city and as Americans cannot allow civil liberties and basic constitutional protections that we hold dear to be destroyed."
The resolution calls for:
- repeal of USA PATRIOT Act provisions that violate civil liberties and rights;
- an end to ethnic and religious profiling;
- an end to spying on First Amendment-protected activities;
- NYPD assurances to refrain from subjecting NYC residents to secret detentions;
- release of the names of all residents secretly detained since 9/11;
- an end to "sneak and peek" searches without notice or probable cause.
The twenty-seven Council Members have already signed on as primary sponsors of Resolution 909 include: Maria Baez, Charles Barron, Tracy Boyland, Gale Brewer, Yvette Clarke, Leroy Comrie, Bill deBlasio, Pedro Espada, Jr., Alan Gerson, Robert Jackson, Allan Jennings, Oliver G. Koppell, John Liu, Margarita Lopez, Hiram Monserrate, Eva Moskowitz, Bill Perkins, Christine Quinn, Philip Reed, Diana Reyna, Joel Rivera, James Sanders, Jr., Larry Seabrook, Jose Serrano, Albert Vann, David Weprin, and David Yassky.
The New York Bill of Rights Defense Campaign, a non-partisan grassroots project of the NYCLU, was organized to restore and protect civil liberties lost after 9/11 and has led the effort to bring the resolution before the city council. In addition to NAAP-NY, groups comprising the New York City coalition are the New York Civil Liberties Union, NAACP, New York Public Library Guild, American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, and the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
For more information, log onto www.nycbordc.org.