Bill of Rights Defense Campaign

BILL OF RIGHTS Defense Committee - Working with communities to uphold the Bill of RightsWe the People
Working with communities to uphold the Bill of Rights
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City of Oxford, Ohio Bill of Rights Day Resolution

December 14, 2007

Office of the Mayor

Proclamation

WHEREAS: on December 15, 1791, our founding fathers rejoiced in the ratification by the states of the first ten amendments to the Constitution of the United States – a Bill of Rights that has helped guarantee all Americans the liberty we so cherish; and

WHEREAS, many states withheld ratification of the Constitution of the United States until a Bill of Rights could be added, providing that the fundamental human and civil rights of the people be preserved from infringement by government; and

WHEREAS, since the adoption of our Bill of Rights, many citizens have made great personal sacrifices on the battlefield as well as withstood many hardships to preserve, protect, and extend our freedoms and secure our inalienable rights, which no majority, even in a democracy, should be able to take away; and

WHEREAS, the citizen's best defense against tyranny and want is a government that empowers its people. Freedom of belief, expression, association, assembly, and the press; and freedom from unreasonable arrests, searches and seizures, excessive bail, coerced confessions, cruel and unusual punishments; and the right to petition the government, due process of law, jury trials, counsel, and equal protection of the laws, as proclaimed by the Bill of Rights, are indispensable to a democratic society; and

WHEREAS, in 1941, 150 years after the first ten amendments were adopted, President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared December 15, National Bill of Rights Day; and in 2003 the City of Oxford reaffirmed the human and civil rights of its residents by adopting Resolution No. 3935, a resolution regarding the USA Patriot Act and the City's intention to protect the civil rights and liberties of the Oxford citizens; and

WHEREAS, Bill of Rights Day reminds elected and appointed officials and employees of federal, state, and local branches of the government that their authority and powers are limited; and

WHEREAS, some of our citizens may not be familiar with the provisions of the Bill of Rights and take freedom for granted, and therefore it is imperative that all citizens fully understand the provisions, principles, and meaning of the Bill of Rights so they will defend it at all costs from encroachments; and

WHEREAS, the rights and freedoms guaranteed by the Bill of Rights deserve perennial celebrations, and the sacrifices made to protect the Bill of Ritghts deserve eternal remembrance. We in the City of Oxford would like to set aside a day commemorating the ratification of the Bill of Rights.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Prudence Z. Dana, Mayor of the City of Oxford, do hereby proclaim Saturday, December 15, 2007 to be:

“BILL OF RIGHTS DAY”

in Oxford and commend this observance to all people. I call upon all citizens of the City of Oxford to honor the legacy of our civil rights and liberties, be midnful of the meaning and importance of each of the Ten Articles, and resolve that suych liberties will prevail in our nation and througout the world.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the City of Oxford to be affixed this 14th day of December 2007.

____________________
PRUDENCE Z. DANA, MAYOR