CCRA Seeks Support for
Historic Civil Rights Bill
By Hazem I. Kira
The California Civil Rights Alliance (CCRA), a statewide
coalition of 23 mainstream organizations, is urging Californians
to support the bipartisan civil rights bill – Senate
Joint Resolution (SJR) 10 - aimed at partial repeal of the
USA PATRIOT Act - by asking their state legislators to vote
for this bill.
The bill, presently under consideration in the California
Senate Judiciary Committee, is expected to come up for a
vote in the next couple of weeks.
Many public interest groups have endorsed the bill. Its
major supporters include American Civil Liberties Union
(ACLU), National Association for the Advancement of Colored
People (NAACP), Green Party-CA, Libertarian Party-CA, American
Muslim Alliance (AMA), Episcopalian Church, Unitarian Church,
and the Catholic Dioceses.
The A CCRA statement reads: “SJR 10 is a comprehensive,
reasonable, and principled response to erosion of civil
liberties. It is a bi-partisan and joint resolution supported
by both conservative and liberal Americans who seek to preserve
their constitutional civil rights. Time is of the essence.
Every Californian who believes in upholding the Bill of
Rights must act now. Call your state representation and
ask him or her to vote for it. ”
A number of prominent State Senators and Assembly members,
Democrats and Republicans alike, have co-sponsored the resolution.
SJR 10 reaffirms California’s dedication to protect
civil liberties by:
Urging congressional candidates to repeal the unconstitutional
portions of the USA PATRIOT Act, such as “sneak and
peak”, and other subsequent legislation, this legislation
attempts to prevent state resources from being spent to
enforce any unconstitutional legislation.
The joint resolution (SJR 10) states that while the California
Legislature supports the federal government's fight against
terrorism, the PATRIOT Act has conferred to federal authorities
broad powers that many Californians believe violate the
rights of all Californians as enshrined in both the US and
state constitutions.
Seven states and 375 cities and counties have passed resolutions
to protect their 61,607,452 residents. With the current
debate in the Congress on whether or not to renew sunset
provisions in the PATRIOT Act, a resolution by the largest
state in the union would undoubtedly create ripples not
easily to be ignored by congressional representatives or
the Bush administration. Now, it is widely believed by many
Democrats and Republicans, that the USA PATRIOT Act has
seriously undermined long-standing American freedoms such
as the right to privacy, lawful political expression and
due process of law.
In the last two-month, three ‘Red’ Republican
states - Idaho, Montana, and Colorado - have passed some
of the strongest-worded condemnation of the USA PATRIOT
Act. It is high time that the blue state of California should
do the same.
The resolution before the California State Senate comes
in the wake of debates that began early April in the Senate
and House Judiciary Committees on whether or not to reauthorize
sunset provisions in the USA PATRIOT Act. “It became
immediately clear,” said the Bill or Rights Defense
Committee in its April 2005 newsletter, “that the
legal, legislative, and grassroots efforts to prevent the
loss of civil liberties have had an impact.”
At both meetings in the Senate and House Judiciary committees,
“Attorney General Alberto Gonzales stated his willingness
to make minor changes to the USA PATRIOT Act, and committee
members asked pressing questions, reflecting marked differences
in their attitudes from October 2001, when they overwhelmingly
passed the USA PATRIOT Act.”
“When independent of each other, many individuals
and groups arrive at the same conclusion, that is the beginning
of a movement,” says CCRA Coordinator Dr. Agha Saeed.
“California’s strict censure of the Patriot
Act is one more proof of a spontaneous civil rights movement
sweeping across the United States.”
In its campaign to help pass SJR 10, the CCRA has prepared
an extensive tool kit, including talking points, target
legislators, a text of the resolution and more.
For more information about cities and states contemplating
legislation to seek complete or partial repeal of the USA
PATRIOT ACT contact the California Civil Rights Alliance
at (510) 252 – 9858, please visit our website and
download our tool kit www.civilrightsforall.net.”
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