A RESOLUTION IN OPPOSITION TO THE USA PATRIOT ACT
WHEREAS Wheaton College is proud of its long and distinguished tradition of protecting the civil rights and liberties of its students; and
WHEREAS Wheaton College has a diverse student body, including immigrants and students, whose contributions to the community are vital to the academic environment, 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, but should do so in a rational and deliberative fashion to ensure that any new security measure enhances public safety without impairing constitutional rights or infringing on civil liberties; and
WHEREAS government security measures that undermine fundamental rights do damage to the American institutions and values that the students of Wheaton College possess; and
WHEREAS the Wheaton College Student Senate believes that there is no inherent conflict between national security and the preservation of liberty -- Americans can be both safe and free; and
WHEREAS the Wheaton Student Body has shown overwhelming support in opposition of the USA PATRIOT Act through a petition signed by over 1,000 matriculated students; and
WHEREAS federal policies adopted since September 11, 2001, including provisions in the USA PATRIOT Act (Public Law 107-56) 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 traditional authority of federal courts to curb law enforcement abuse of electronic surveillance in anti-terrorism investigations 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 is unaware that his property has been searched;
(d) granting law enforcement and intelligence agencies broad access to personal medical, financial, library and education records with little if any judicial oversight;
(e) chilling constitutionally protected speech through overbroad 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 enforcement of federal immigration law;
(g) permitting the FBI to conduct surveillance of religious services, internet chatrooms, political demonstrations, and other public meetings of any kind without having any evidence that a crime has been or may be committed; and
WHEREAS new legislation has been drafted by the Administration entitled the Domestic Security Enhancement Act (DSEA) (also known as PATRIOT II) which contains a multitude of new and sweeping law enforcement and intelligence gathering powers, many of which are not related to terrorism, that would severely dilute, if not undermine, many basic constitutional rights, as well as disturb our unique system of checks and balances by:
(a) diminishing personal privacy by removing important checks on government surveillance authority,
(b) reducing the accountability of government to the public by increasing government secrecy,
(c) expanding the definition of “terrorism” in a manner that threatens the constitutionally protected rights of Americans, and
(d) seriously eroding the right of all persons to due process of law; and
WHEREAS these new powers pose a particular threat to the civil rights and liberties of the students of Wheaton College who are Arab, Muslim or of South Asian descent; and
WHEREAS many other student governments and 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 demanding accountability from law enforcement agencies regarding their use of these new powers; therefore be it
RESOLVED that the Student Senate of Wheaton College affirms its strong support for fundamental constitutional rights and its opposition to federal measures that infringe on civil liberties; and be it further
RESOLVED that the Student Senate of Wheaton College affirms its strong support for the rights of immigrants and opposes measures that single out individuals for legal scrutiny or enforcement activity based on their country of origin; and be it further RESOLVED that the Student Senate of Wheaton College requests that University offices provide notice to individuals whose education records have been obtained by law enforcement agents pursuant to section 507 of the USA PATRIOT Act; and be it further
RESOLVED that the Student Senate of Wheaton College requests that the school library post in a prominent place within the library a notice to library users as follows: “WARNING: Under Section 215 of the federal USA PATRIOT Act (Public Law 107-56), records of the books and other materials you borrow from this library may be obtained by federal agents. Federal law 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 be it further
RESOLVED that the Director of Communications of Wheaton College Student Senate is instructed to transmit a copy of this resolution to President Bush and Attorney General Ashcroft, and Congressmen Barney Frank and Senators Edward Kennedy and John Kerry accompanied by a letter urging them to:
Support Congressional efforts to assess the impacts of the PATRIOT Act, monitor federal anti-terrorism tactics, and work to repeal provisions of the USA PATRIOT ACT and other laws and regulations that infringe on civil rights and liberties, ensure that provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act "sunset" in accordance with the provisions of the Act, and to take a lead in Congressional action to oppose passage of the Domestic Security Enhancement Act, known as "Patriot II".