>New Mexico just says no to the Patriot act! Powerful!
>State of New Mexico rejects US PATRIOT Law. (#1) HJM40 passed by a 53-11
>vote on Monday.
>
>HOUSE JOINT MEMORIAL 40
>46th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2003
>State of New Mexico rejects US PATRIOT Law
>INTRODUCED BY Max Coll
>
>A JOINT MEMORIAL AFFIRMING CIVIL RIGHTS AND LIBERTIES; DECLARING
>OPPOSITION TO FEDERAL MEASURES THAT INFRINGE ON CIVIL LIBERTIES.
>
>WHEREAS, the state of New Mexico is proud of its long and distinguished
>tradition of protecting the civil rights and liberties of its residents;
>and WHEREAS, New Mexico has a diverse population, including immigrants and
>students, whose contributions to the community are vital to its economy,
>culture and civic character;
>and WHEREAS, the preservation of civil rights and liberties is essential
>to the well-being of a democratic society;
>and WHEREAS, federal, state and local governments should protect the
>public from terrorist attacks such as those that occurred on September 11,
>2001 and should do so in a rational and deliberative fashion to ensure
>that a new security measure will enhance public safety without impairing
>constitutional rights or infringing on civil liberties;
>and WHEREAS, government security measures that undermine fundamental
>rights do damage to American institutions and values that the residents of
>New Mexico hold dear;
>and WHEREAS, the house of representatives believes that there is no
>inherent conflict between national security and the preservation of
>liberty and that Americans can be both safe and free;
>and WHEREAS, federal policies adopted since September 11, 2001, including
>provisions in Public Law 107-56, known as the USA Patriot Act, and related
>executive orders, regulations and actions threaten fundamental rights and
>liberties by:
>A. authorizing the indefinite incarceration of non-citizens based on mere
>suspicion and the indefinite incarceration of citizens designated by the
>president as "enemy combatants" without access to counsel or meaningful
>recourse to the federal courts;
>B. limiting the authority of federal courts to curb law enforcement abuse
>of electronic surveillance in anti-terrorism and ordinary criminal
>investigations;
>C. expanding the authority of federal agents to conduct so-called "sneak
>and peek" or "black bag" searches, in which the subject of the search
>warrant has not been notified that his or her property has been searched;
>D. granting federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies broad access
>to personal, medical, financial, library and educational records with
>little, if any, judicial oversight;
>E. chilling constitutionally protected speech through overly broad
>definitions of "terrorism";
>F. driving a wedge between immigrant communities and the police that
>protect them by encouraging involvement of state and local police in the
>enforcement of federal immigration law; and G. permitting the federal
>bureau of investigation to conduct surveillance of religious services,
>internet chat rooms, political demonstrations and public meetings of any
>kind without evidence that a crime has been or may be committed;
>and WHEREAS, these new powers pose a particular threat to the civil rights
>and liberties of the residents of New Mexico state who are or who are
>assumed to be Arab, Muslim or of South Asian descent;
>and WHEREAS, other communities throughout the country have enacted
>resolutions reaffirming support for civil rights and civil liberties in
>the face of government policies that threaten these values and have
>demanded accountability from law enforcement agencies regarding their use
>of these new powers;
>NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW
>MEXICO that it:
>A. affirm its strong support for fundamental constitutional rights and its
>opposition to federal measures that infringe on these rights and liberties;
>
>B. affirm its strong support for the rights of immigrants and oppose
>measures that single out individuals for legal scrutiny or enforcement
>activity based on their country of origin;
>C. direct the New Mexico state police to:
>(1) refrain from participating in the enforcement of federal immigration laws;
>(2) seek adequate written assurances from federal authorities that
>residents of the state of New Mexico and individuals in the custody of the
>state who are placed in federal custody will not be subjected to military
>or secret detention or secret immigration proceedings without access to
>counsel and, absent such written assurances, refrain from assisting
>federal authorities to obtain custody of these individuals;
>(3) refrain from engaging in the surveillance of individuals or groups of
>individuals based on their participation in activities protected by the
>First Amendment to the United States constitution, such as political
>advocacy or the practice of a religion, without reasonable and
>particularized suspicion of criminal conduct unrelated to the activity
>protected by the First Amendment to the United States constitution;
>(4) refrain from using race, religion, ethnicity or national origin as a
>factor in selecting who is subject to investigatory activities unless
>race, religion, ethnicity or national origin is part of the description of
>a specific suspect to be apprehended;
>(5) refrain, whether acting alone or with federal law enforcement
>officers, from collecting or maintaining information about the political,
>religious or social views, associations or activities of any individual,
>group, association, organization, corporation, business or partnership
>unless such information directly relates to an investigation of criminal
>activity and there are reasonable grounds to believe that the subject of
>the information is or may be involved in criminal conduct;
>(6) provide advance or simultaneous notice of the execution of a search
>warrant to any resident of the state of New Mexico whose property is the
>subject of the search and refrain from participating in a joint search
>with any law enforcement agency absent assurances that such a notice will
>be provided;
>(7) refrain from undertaking or participating in any initiative, such as
>the terrorist information and prevention system, also known as TIPS, that
>encourages members of the general public to spy on their neighbors,
>colleagues or customers;
>(8) refrain from the practice of stopping drivers or pedestrians for the
>purpose of scrutinizing their identification documents without reasonable
>and particularized suspicion of criminal activity; and
>(9) report to the legislature and the interim corrections oversight and
>justice committee, any request by federal authorities that, if granted,
>would cause agencies of the state to exercise powers or cooperate in the
>exercise of powers in apparent violation of a city ordinance or the laws
>or constitution of this state or of the United States;
>D. direct public schools and institutions of higher education to provide
>notice to individuals whose education records have been obtained by law
>enforcement agents pursuant to Section 507 of the USA Patriot Act;
>E. direct public libraries to post in a prominent place within the library
>a notice as follows:
>"WARNING: Under Section 215 of the federal USA Patriot Act (Public Law
>107-56), records of books and other materials you borrow from this library
>may be obtained by federal agents. This law also prohibits librarians from
>informing you if records about you have been obtained by federal agents.
>Questions about this policy should be directed to Attorney General John
>Ashcroft, Department of Justice, Washington, DC 20530.";
>and F. direct the state official in charge of homeland security for New
>Mexico to seek periodically from federal authorities the following
>information in a form that facilitates an assessment of the effect of
>federal anti-terrorism efforts on the residents of the state of New Mexico
>and provide to the legislature and the interim corrections oversight and
>justice committee, no less than once every six months, a summary of the
>information obtained:
>
>
>(1) the names of all residents of New Mexico who have been arrested or
>otherwise detained by federal authorities as a result of terrorism
>investigations since September 11, 2001, and:
>(a) the location of each detainee;
>(b) the circumstances that led to each detention;
>(c) the charges, if any, lodged against each detainee; and
>(d) the name of counsel, if any, representing each detainee;
>(2) the number of search warrants that have been executed in New Mexico
>without notice to the subject of the warrant pursuant to Section 213 of
>the USA Patriot Act;
>(3) the extent of electronic surveillance carried out in the state
>pursuant to powers granted in the USA Patriot Act;
>(4) the extent to which federal authorities are monitoring political
>meetings, religious gatherings or other activities within New Mexico that
>are protected by the first Amendment of the United States constitution;
>(5) the number of times education records have been obtained from public
>schools and institutions of higher learning in New Mexico pursuant to
>Section 507 of the USA Patriot Act;
>(6) the number of times library records have been obtained from libraries
>in New Mexico pursuant to Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act; and
>(7) the number of times records of books purchased by store patrons have
>been obtained from bookstores in New Mexico pursuant to Section 215 of the
>USA Patriot Act;
>and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to
>Senators Jeff Bingaman and Pete Domenici and Representatives Tom Udall,
>Heather Wilson and Steve Pearce, with a letter urging them to monitor
>federal anti-terrorism tactics and to work to repeal provisions of the USA
>Patriot Act and other laws and regulations that infringe on civil rights
>and liberties;
>and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to
>President George W. Bush and Attorney General John Ashcroft;
>and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this memorial be transmitted to
>the state official in charge of homeland security for New Mexico;
>and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to
>the New Mexico state police and to all public schools, institutions of
>higher education and public libraries within the state of New Mexico.
>
>Reference: http://legis.state.nm.us/Sessions/03%20Regular/memorials/house/
>--
>--------------------------------------------------
>Drop Bush, Not Bombs!
>--------------------------------------------------
>
>"During times of universal deceit,
>telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act."
>George Orwell
>
>---------------------------------
>
>END OF THE TRAIL SALOON
>Live music, comedy, call-in radio-oke
>Alternate Sundays, 6am GMT (10pm PDT)
>http://www.kvmr.org
>
>--------------------------------
>
>"I uke, therefore I am." -- Cool Hand Uke
>"I log on, therefore I seem to be." -- Rodd Gnawkin
>
>Visit Cool Hand Uke's Lava Tube:
> http://www.oro.net/~dscanlan
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <../attachments/20030412/5121d6a6/attachment.htm>