A group of Madison City Council members are pushing the Council to pass a resolution aimed at protecting citizens’ civil liberties, which they say are in jeopardy under the USA Patriot Act.

The resolution was drawn up by Don McKeating of the Madison Area Peace Coalition and introduced by Ald. Brenda Konkel, District 2. It has received endorsement from the Progressive Dane Party and Four Lakes Green Parties, as well as several other city alders.

The resolution calls on the city of Madison to “uphold the constitutionally protected rights of all persons to peacefully protest and express their political views, no matter how unpopular,” and urges police not to utilize “racial profiling” or cooperate with any investigation of a suspect in the absence of probable cause.

“The resolution simply requires our city’s elected officials to uphold the constitutionally guaranteed rights of all people in Madison, as they swore to do when taking office,” said McKeating in a statement. “Passage of this resolution is essential to preserving the high quality of life we enjoy in Madison.”

Fearing the Patriot Act infringes on citizens’ rights awarded to them by the Constitution, council members, including Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, said they strongly support the resolution.

“Governor McCallum’s very first executive order was an order against racial profiling and has encouraged law enforcement all over the state to restrict racial profiling,” Verveer said.

“I’m concerned that the Bush-Ashcroft war on terrorism is turning into a war on Americans’ civil liberties.”
Verveer said as a progressive city, it is Madison’s job to defend the liberties of its citizens, even if national legislation threatens to violate them.

If a resolution is passed, Verveer said it would direct the Madison Police Department to not change their policies in light of Sept. 11, and thus avoid civil-liberty infringements against innocent civilians.

“It’s important the Council goes on record supporting a resolution like this, so Madison can continue to celebrate the difference, diversity, civil liberties and civil rights that we enjoy,” Verveer said.

However, Ald. Dorothy Borchardt, District 12, said she believes the city may be overstepping its jurisdiction and is confident that the City Council’s decision will have no bearing whatsoever on the implementation of the Patriot Act on a federal or local level.

Borchardt suggested Madison residents concerned that their civil liberties might be threatened by passage of the USA Patriot Act should contact their locally elected congressional representatives.

“Washington D.C. is not waiting for us with baited breadth for our decision on this resolution,” Borchardt said. “They don’t care what the City Council in Madison has to say about it.”

Ald. Paul Skidmore, District 9, also said he supports the resolution.

Skidmore serves on the city’s library board and is concerned with the USA Patriot Act’s implications regarding library records. He said the act gives government officials the right to check library records of citizens without legal recourse, something protected by privacy laws before the USA Patriot Act was passed.

“The fear is, the feds could come in and take a snapshot at any given time and see who has checked out what materials,” Skidmore said.

The Patriot Act has superceded various privacy laws granted to Americans before Sept. 11, according to Skidmore. Like Verveer, Skidmore said it is important for Madison’s City Council to express concern with the possible violation of civil liberties that could occur through the USA Patriot Act.

“We try to make sure the integrity of the city is upheld by maintaining civil rights and liberties for citizens of Madison,” Skidmore said.

If the Council passes a resolution, Madison would join six other cities in the nation that have passed similar resolutions, including Berkeley, Calif. and Ann Arbor, Mich.

Although no date has officially been set for its consideration, Verveer said a draft of the resolution could be put in front of the Council as early as Oct. 15.

–Matt Scherling contributed to this report