Somerville Bill of Rights Defense Committee

[cos]

A group of us have started to work on getting Somerville to pass a resolution declaring it a civil rights safe zone, and calling on the city to protect constitutional rights despite the extra authority granted by the USA PATRIOT Act to infringe on free speech, due process, privacy, and other core rights. Many other cities and towns have already done this, including several in Massachusetts. Cambridge passed one last year.

We have a web site at http://municipalfreedom.org/ where you can read about the issues, find useful links, a copy of our first draft resolution, as well as the final one that passed in Cambridge, and some other things. Eventually we'll probably have a petition to sign, but we're not at that stage yet. You can send us email, to info@municipalfreedom.org, to let us know if you're interested in volunteering, or in just being on a list to find out when there is some public action to take, such as signing a petition or making phone calls.

Comments

[bigrock.livejournal.com]

That is a great idea but Federal law always overrides any underlying law.

[cos]

That depends on how you mean it. It's generally true, when there's a direct conflict, but this is a lot more complicated than that. The actions of local officials do matter. There's also a political aspect that is just as important as the legal one. Read more, to understand why this is a very useful thing to do.

[sauergeek.livejournal.com]

Have a look at Ann Arbor, MI's marijuana laws. Last I checked, marijuana possession up to some substantial amount was a $25 ticket. Sure, it's illegal -- but the local police hand out the Ann Arbor ticket, not a federal felony. It's a good example of what the local jurisdiction can do.

[krikket.livejournal.com]

Defend the full bill of rights!

*Cheers*

[cos]

We'd like to actually pass a resolution. Something the mayor, the board of aldermen, the police, municipal workers, and the public as a whole, can all get behind and agree on. The right to bear arms is divisive, and extremely unpopular in dense urban areas like Somerville where most people don't want to see guns. Freedom of speech, assembly, association, religion, due process, and so on, are basic, core rights that people are used to and expect to have, and are horrified to find out they're losing.

I'm making no statement here about the right to bear arms, other than "out of scope". We're trying to harness people's existing support for civil liberties on a personal level, into local political results. You're trying to win people over to support a right most people here don't think they have or should have. These are very separate struggles, and mixing them up would muddle both.

[krikket.livejournal.com]

I'm not going to get into an argument about your decision. It's a perfectly understandable choice to make, given your target demographic.

What I will take exception to is your implying that the 2nd Amendment is not a civil right, or a civil liberty. The struggles really aren't all that different when you take a closer look at things.

Besides, I think the most good would come if the 9th and 10th Amendments were enforced... Or the 4th with the unconstitional searches we're all subject to when we fly or enter a courthouse... Or the 5th with the asset forfiture laws... Or the 6th and 7th with the secret trials... Or the 8th with the drug laws... And I'm only scratching the surface here. Possibly the only one intact is the 3rd Amendment, but I could be wrong there.

Believe it or not, I do believe in issues that aren't related to firearms! Besides, as far as I can tell, the main reason firearms are so unpopular is because very few will take up the cry and show the facts behind the issue. (How many people know that the first shots in the American Revolution were fired over gun control? Let alone any of the current data on the issue...)

That's why I'm one of those people who call for an enforcement of the bill of rights. Civil liberties in this country is already dead, most people just don't know it yet.