CC Minutes - 11/25/02 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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Councilor Taylor, seconded by Councilor Bettman, moved to approve a resolution of the City of Eugene defending the Bill of Rights and civil liberties. In response to a question from Councilor Rayor regarding the implications of the resolution, City Attorney Glenn Klein said a resolution could have legal effects but noted that a resolution that expressed the council's opinion did not have a legal effect on the federal government. Councilor Pap8 said the best place to resolve the questions about the USA Patriot Act was before a United States District Court or the United States Supreme Court. He expressed his feeling that parts of the act were overbearing and did violate the first ten amendments in the Bill of Rights. He said he would support the motion if it only focused on the portions of the act that appeared unconstitutional. Councilor Pap8 offered a friendly amendment, which was accepted, to specify subpoenas issued to the citizens of Eugene in the resolution. Councilor Kelly reiterated his thanks for the input offered during the Public Forum. Councilor Meisner said he believed that much of the USA Patriot Act was unconstitutional. He said he would not likely vote for the resolution since it would be an empty gesture, adding that it would not change the law and would have no practical effect. He stressed his hope that the people who came to testify at the public forum would not stop with requesting a symbolic gesture from the City of Eugene expressing his desire to see effective action taken. Councilor Nathanson said when she signed a letter as an elected official she took the matter extremely seriously. She said she was not inclined to support the resolution for the reasons stated by Councilor Meisner. She said adopting a resolution as the official stand of the City was problematic when the entire city had not been heard from. She said her primary duty was to take care of municipal affairs. She noted that there was a direct connection in this case since the act affected people in the City of Eugene. She expressed her preference to have a letter signed by all of the members of the council rather than a resolution, indicating that a letter would be a much stronger statement. Mr. Klein said that the resolution did not limit itself to unconstitutional activities of the USA Patriot Act. If there was a desire to limit the resolution to unconstitutional activities, then the second line under Section 2 of the proposed resolution would need to have unconstitutional activities mentioned. Councilor Bettman said she would support the resolution. She said she believed there was a definite local impact from the USA Patriot Act. She said there was no effective action that the council could take so the only action that could be taken was to not be silent, adding that silence implied compliance. She acknowledged that the resolution would be a symbolic act but stressed that speaking out was better than doing nothing. Councilor Taylor stressed the importance of symbols to show opposition to the act. She said the council had the opportunity to speak as the elected body of the City of Eugene. She noted that letters could be sent as well stating that everything done to preserve the liberties of the United States was important. MINUTES--Eugene City Council November 25, 2002 Page 9 Regular Meeting