[North-NV-Greens] Sparks City Council to vote on a resolution affirming the Bill of Rights and opposing the overreaching sections of the PATRIOT Act

[Bob Tregilus]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DATE: 08/19/05

FROM: American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada (ACLU)

CONTACTS: Laura Mijanovich, 775/884-9089, mijanovich at powernet.net; Bob 
Tregilus, 775/826-4514, bob at ocha.net

Sparks City Council to vote on a resolution affirming the Bill of Rights 
and opposing the overreaching sections of the PATRIOT Act

SPARKS, NV - As House and Senate sub-committees debate different 
versions of a USA PATRIOT Act reauthorization bill, the City of Sparks 
may add its voice to the mix this coming Monday, August 22, 2005 at 3:00 
PM.

"The Sparks City Council will have an opportunity on Monday to affirm 
the Bill of Rights and to formally voice its constituents’ concern for 
the potential loss of civil liberties stemming from the family of 
anti-terrorism legislation that includes the USA PATRIOT Act," noted 
Laura Mijanovich, the Northern Coordinator of the American Civil 
Liberties Union of Nevada (ACLU).

A draft resolution submitted by members of the Nevada Campaign to Defeat 
the Patriot Act (NCDPA) and supported by more than seventy local 
organizations and over a thousand Nevadans from all walks of life is 
scheduled to be debated at Monday's council meeting.

“The proposed resolution contains the same provisions as the one adopted 
last year by the City of Elko and it is modeled after the resolution 
passed by the State of Alaska in 2003," said the ACLU's Mijanovich.

"Not only does it send a strong message to the United States Congress 
urging respect for the Bill of Rights, but it also raises the bar of 
constitutional protection within the City of Sparks”, added Mijanovich. 
“It does so by re-establishing a minimum evidentiary requirement of 
probable cause before local resources are employed in the detention, 
investigation, or surveillance of an individual, or the collection or 
sharing of his/her confidential data. The proposed resolution also 
prohibits the use of local resources for immigration enforcement, which 
is the responsibility of the federal government, and it affirms the 
City’s commitment not to engage in racial or ethnic profiling.”

To date, 393 community resolutions have been passed across the country, 
including seven that are state-wide. These communities represent 
approximately 62 million people who oppose the overreaching provisions 
of the Patriot Act and related legislation. This ongoing, unprecedented 
national grassroots campaign has brought together a wide diversity of 
groups across the political spectrum. It has greatly affected Congress’ 
debate on anti-terrorism legislation by emphasizing the need to strike 
the appropriate balance between security and liberty.

WHAT: Sparks City Council to vote on a resolution affirming the Bill of 
Rights and opposing the overreaching sections of the PATRIOT Act

WHEN: Monday, August 22, 2005, at 3:00 PM

WHERE: Sparks City Hall, 431 Prater Way (corner of Prater Way & 4th ST)

For more information regarding the proposed resolution, please visit the 
NCDPA WEBSITE at www.ncdpa.org or call 775.786.6757

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