[NV Greens] Sparks City Council needs your support!

[Bob Tregilus]

Hi everyone -

As you likely know we successfully passed a resolution in Sparks last 
month that affirms the Bill of Rights and expresses opposition to the 
over-reaching sections of the USA PATRIOT Act and related legislation.

This, of course, would not have been possible had we not only had your 
help but also the support of the three brave council members who voted 
for our resolution.

As you can imagine, the "you're either with us or you're a terrorist" 
crowd are now accusing the three council members of putting Sparks' 
residents at risk and undermining our nation's war on terror by adopting 
  the NCDPA resolution. They also assert that we are the few and they 
are the many.

We need to respond to these erroneous accusations and extend our support 
and thanks to Sparks City Councilmembers, John Mayer, Judy Moss, and 
Phil Salerno.

To say thanks please send a letter or email to:

[Councilmember's name]
P. O. Box 857
Sparks, NV 89432

Or email:

John Mayer
jmayer at cityofsparks.us

Judy Moss
jmoss at cityofsparks.us

Phil Salerno
psalerno at cityofsparks.us

We are also asking that you respond publicly by writing a letter (200 
words or less) to the editor of the Reno Gazette Journal and submitting 
it here:
http://www.rgj.com/helpdesk/news/letter_to_editor.php

Personal letters as well as letters to the editor are welcome from all 
Nevadans supporting this effort.

So please support those who supported you - send a letter of thanks 
today! And please help keep the public dialogue going on this vital 
issue by writing a letter to the editor now!

Be well,
Bob Tregilus
for the NCDPA
http://ncdpa.org
775/826-4514

---

August 29, 2005
Poll: Support for Patriot Act shrinks the more people learn about it

WILL LESTER
The Associated Press

WASHINGTON - Fewer than half of Americans know the purpose of the 
Patriot Act, and the more they know about it the less they like it, 
according to a poll released Monday.

Fewer than half of those polled, 42 percent, are able to correctly 
identify the law's main purpose of enhancing surveillance procedures for 
federal law enforcement agencies, according to the poll conducted by the 
Center for Survey Research and Analysis at the University of Connecticut.

Almost two-thirds of all Americans, 64 percent, said they support the 
Patriot Act. But support dropped to 57 percent among those who could 
accurately identify the intent of the legislation.

The survey was intended to take a closer look at the high levels of 
public support the Patriot Act has gotten in various polls, said Samuel 
Best, the center's director.

"The Patriot Act has been a very visible piece of legislation," Best 
said. "We wanted to see if people had an understanding of the act that 
differentiated it from the war on terrorism generally."

"Most people don't distinguish the Patriot Act from the war on terror in 
general," Best said.

The House and Senate have voted to extend provisions of the Patriot Act 
that were set to expire at the end of this year, making many of those 
provisions permanent. A conference committee is scheduled to try this 
fall to work out differences in the House and Senate versions of the 
legislation.

Some provisions of the Patriot Act are supported by a solid majority, 
while others got far less support.

The provision that permitted federal agents:

-To use information collected in foreign intelligence investigations for 
domestic crime investigations was supported by 81 percent.

-To monitor names and addresses of Internet communications in criminal 
investigations was supported by 69 percent.

-To tap any telephone line a terrorist suspect might use rather than 
specifying particular phone lines was supported by 62 percent.

-To require libraries to turn over records in terrorism investigations 
unbeknownst to the patrons was supported by 53 percent.

-To require banks to turn over records to the government without 
judicial approval was supported by 43 percent.

-To conduct secret searches of Americans' homes without informing the 
occupants for an unspecified period of time was supported by 23 percent.

The popularity of the law seems to dwindle for measures that intrude 
into Americans' personal lives.

"Once people see these things hit increasingly close to home, they 
become more and more troubled," Best said.

Three-fourths said they think that law enforcement will frequently or 
occasionally use the law to investigate crimes other than terrorism. 
Almost as many, 72 percent, said they expect it will be used to 
investigate legitimate political and social groups. People are evenly 
divided on whether the law has prevented terrorist attacks.

While numerous polls have indicated widespread support for the Patriot 
Act, Best said his research suggests "people are pretty torn on where 
they stand."

The results are based on polling of 800 adults from Aug. 4-22 and have a 
margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.