September 09, 2004

The American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey (ACLU-NJ) anticipates a favorable vote by the Mercer County Board of Freeholders in support of a Pro-Civil Liberties Resolution that the Freeholders will consider at their meeting tonight, September 9, 2004, at 6:30 p.m.

The Resolution calls upon the Mercer County Board of Freeholders to affirm a commitment to securing national security, without sacrificing the fundamental civil rights and liberties upon which our country has been founded. If passed, Mercer County will become the first county in New Jersey to have passed such a resolution in reaction to federal government’s controversial USA PATRIOT Act. Eleven municipalities in New Jersey, including three Mercer County municipalities (Princeton Borough, Ewing Township, and Lawrence Township) have passed such resolutions. Nationally, over 347 communities and four states have passed resolutions condemning the Act.

Congress passed the USA PATRIOT Act just 45 days after the September 11 attacks, with virtually no debate. This 342-page piece of legislation allows for the broadest expansion of police and law enforcement powers in the recent history of our country. Some of the most troubling provisions of the Act enable the FBI to access private records, including medical records, library records and student records, without the need for a warrant or establishing probable cause that a crime has occurred or is about to occur. A “gag provision” within the Act makes it so that the person searched may never learn that he or she has been the subject of government surveillance.

In the two years since the passage of the Act, numerous lawmakers, Republicans and Democrats alike, have condemned some of the Act’s most far-reaching provisions and have called for closer scrutiny into how the government uses its expanded powers.

In Mercer County, the resolution was presented to the Board of Freeholders by the Mercer County Coalition for Civil Liberties (MCCCL). MCCL, a coalition of organizations and Mercer County citizens, has organized public forums and meetings to increase public awareness and promote dialogue about the importance of civil liberties and the rights granted to us under the U.S. Constitution. Some of the member organizations of MCCL include: the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey, Coalition for Peace Action, Peace and Social Justice Task Force of the New Jersey Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers, ImmPACT (Immigrant’s Public Advocacy Coalition of Trenton), and others.

More information about the USA PATRIOT Act, about the various communities that have passed resolutions, and other information about the expansion of executive powers since September 11 can be found at: http://www.aclu.org/safeandfree.