Academic Senate Resolution on Illinois State University’s Response to the USA PATRIOT Act and Related Measures
WHEREAS the preservation of civil rights and civil liberties is a pillar of the American polity and is essential to the well-being of any democracy, particularly during times of conflict when such rights and liberties may be threatened, and
WHEREAS the USA PATRIOT Act (Public Law 107-56; acronym for “Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism”) and related federal actions, regulations, and executive orders contain provisions that violate basic civil rights of students, faculty, and staff of Illinois State University by, among other things, authorizing
- secret monitoring of the email communications, internet activities, and telephone calls of students, faculty, or staff;
- law enforcement expanded access to medical, financial, and academic records of students, faculty, or staff, without meaningful oversight or judicial review, probable cause, and notification of the person whose confidential records are being sought;
- law enforcement directives to libraries and bookstores to maintain and produce records pertaining to circulation and/or purchase of books by students, faculty, staff, and other patrons while forbidding disclosure that such records have been requested or provided;
- the identification of a broadly defined crime, “domestic terrorism,” and the arbitrary categorization of domestic student, faculty, and staff groups, including political and religious groups, as “terrorist organizations”;
- the deportation, or indefinite detention, of non-citizens without charging them with, or showing evidence to them of, a crime; and
WHEREAS the threat posed by these measures can create an atmosphere of fear detrimental to the free inquiry and unfettered pursuit of knowledge that are essential to the mission of Illinois State University, be it therefore
RESOLVED, that the Senate urge the University President to redesignate all authority to respond to requests for information, subpoenas, and other demands received pursuant to the USA PATRIOT Act or related federal actions, regulations, and executive orders to the Office of the President, and that the President instruct campus employees to bring all such inquiries to his or her attention; and be it further
RESOLVED, that the Senate urge the President not to assist or voluntarily cooperate with investigations, interrogations, or arrest procedures, public or clandestine, that are in violation of individuals’ civil rights or civil liberties as specified in the Constitution of the United States; and be it further
RESOLVED, that the Senate urge the President to assure all campus employees that legal expenses they might reasonably incur by complying with the redesignated authority will be borne by the University; and be it further
RESOLVED that the Senate urge the President to petition the Congress
to overturn the provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act and regulations
and executive orders issued pursuant thereto that violate constitutional
rights, to petition the Congress not to enact further such legislation,
to seek and support a judicial review of these statutes, regulations,
and executive orders, and to support legislation that seeks to restore
civil liberties.