U.S. cities, states fight PATRIOT Act.

• Author: Swartz, Nikki
• Position: Up front: news, trends and analysis

Two years after Congress passed the USA PATRIOT Act, state and local governments have launched multiple efforts to repeal it.

Passed by Congress soon after September 11, 2001, the legislation gives the government sweeping powers to monitor citizens suspected of having ties to terrorism. It authorizes the federal government to wiretap cell phones, check business records, monitor computer use, access financial records, and detain terrorism suspects without charging them with a crime.

Attorney General John Ashcroft has stated that law enforcement's ability to prevent another attack on American soil would be more difficult, if not impossible, without the PATRIOT Act. But critics say it threatens civil liberties.

According to the Bill of Rights Defense Committee, three states--Alaska, Hawaii, and Vermont--plus more than 140 cities and counties have approved resolutions condemning the act. The movement seems to be gathering steam--65 of those resolutions have been approved since April 1.

Resolutions against the act have passed in liberal college towns such as Ann Arbor, Michigan, in larger cities such as Philadelphia, and even in traditionally conservative cities like Oklahoma City.

In Berkeley, California, the public library director purges records of all returned books each day and erases the list of Web sites visited on the library's 50 Internet terminals. Officials in Portland, Oregon, have declined to cooperate with federal agents who may serve warrants that can remain secret under the PATRIOT Act. The Arcata, California, city council passed an ordinance in April barring city workers from enforcing the act.

The American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE) is urging members of the book and library communities to contact their congressional representatives in support of an amendment that cuts off Justice Department funding for searches of bookstore and library records under Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act. Pep. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) will offer the measure as an amendment to the Commerce, Justice, State, and Judiciary Appropriations Bill of 2004. The bill, which has no number yet, is...