____________ Township
______________ County, Pennsylvania
Ordinance No. 2003-
AN ORDINANCE OF _____________TOWNSHIP, ___________ COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA, DEFENDING CIVIL LIBERTIES AND
THE PEOPLES’ INALIENABLE RIGHTS
Section 1. Name. The name of this Ordinance shall be the “___________ Township Defense of Civil Liberties Ordinance.”
Section 2. Authority. This Ordinance is adopted and enacted pursuant to the authority granted to the Township by state and federal Constitutions and relevant laws and principles including, but not limited to, the following:
The Supervisors’ Oath, as codified at the Second Class Township Code, Article V, §501, in which elected Supervisors affirm that they will defend civil rights secured by the Constitutions of the United States and of the Commonwealth;
The provisions of the Second Class Township Code Article VII, as codified at 53 P.S. §65101 et seq. which authorizes the Township to protect the public health, safety, and general welfare;
The provisions of the Second Class Township Code, Article VII, as codified at 53 P.S. §66501 et seq. which authorizes the Township to enact ordinances concerning the promotion of public safety;
The principle upon which democratic governments are created – that all governments are instituted to secure and protect the peoples’ inalienable rights, and thus, cannot infringe or deny those rights;
The Pennsylvania Constitution, Article I, Section 1 and Section 2, declaring that “[a]ll power is inherent in the people, and all free governments are founded on their authority and instituted for their peace, safety, and happiness”;
The Declaration of Independence of the united States of America, para. 1, which declares that “all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. – That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men”;
The Actions taken by the Virginia and Kentucky legislatures in 1798 to nullify the federal Alien and Sedition Acts, which punished those criticizing the policies of the federal government with imprisonment. The Virginia and Kentucky Resolves were authored by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison to protect the civil rights of Virginians and Kentuckians.
The Constitution of the United States, preamble, declaring that “the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union. . . promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity do ordain and establish this Constitution”;
Article IV of the Constitution, Section 4, which declares that “[t]he United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government. . .”;
The Ninth Amendment of the Constitution, stating that “[t]he enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people”; and
The Tenth Amendment of the Constitution, declaring that “[t]he powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”
Section 3. Purpose. The purpose of this Ordinance is to protect the civil rights and civil liberties for all residents of ___________Township and to affirm the Township’s commitment to build democratic institutions and democratic processes, and to embrace, defend, and uphold the inalienable rights and fundamental liberties recognized by the United States and Pennsylvania Constitutions. Through the adoption of this Ordinance, this Township affirms its commitment to defending the civil liberties of all residents of this Township – both citizens and non-citizens. This Township finds that the power of nullifying this federal law is anchored in the responsibility and duty of elected and appointed public officials to void those laws that infringe and deny the inalienable rights of people, upon which truly republican forms of government are founded.
This Township finds that new powers granted to federal agencies under the USA PATRIOT Act (Public Law 107-56), the Homeland Security Act (Public Law 107-296), related Executive Orders, and the potential for new laws granting new and expanded powers, deny the civil liberties and civil rights of the residents of ____________Township and that it is the duty and responsibility of this Township government to nullify those federal laws and Orders.
Specifically, those laws and Orders
· Violate the First and Fourth Amendments to the Constitution by illegitimately expanding the authority of federal officials’ ability to wiretap telephones, monitor e-mail communications, survey medical, financial and student records, and secretly enter homes and offices without administrative oversight or a showing of probable cause;
· Illegitimately give law enforcement officials the expanded authority to obtain people’s library records, and prohibit librarians from informing library users of monitoring or information requests;
· Illegitimately grant unchecked powers to the Attorney General and the U.S. Secretary of State to designate legal domestic groups as “terrorist organizations” while removing control over covert, surveillance counter-intelligence operations conducted by the F.B.I. that in the past – through the agency and its precursor agencies - have persistently and secretly targeted domestic groups and individuals;
· Violate the Fifth, Sixth, and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution in establishing secret military tribunals, and in subjecting citizens and non-citizens to indefinite detention even when they have not been allowed an attorney, brought to trial, or even charged with a crime; and
· Illegitimately authorize eavesdropping on confidential communications between lawyers and their clients in federal custody.
Section 4. Statement of Law. The authority granted to federal agencies illegitimately conferred by Congress under the authority of the USA PATRIOT Act that infringe upon the civil liberties and civil rights of the residents of _____________Township are hereby declared null and void within this Township. Accordingly, the USA PATRIOT Act, the Homeland Security Act, and regulations and Executive Orders implemented under the authority of those laws are not binding upon the residents of this Township, the Township Supervisors, or any employees of the Township.
Section 5. No Detentions or Profiling Within the Township. No employee of the Township shall officially engage in, or permit unlawful detentions or profiling based on race, ethnicity, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, or political or religious association that are in violation of individuals’ civil rights or civil liberties as specified in the Bill of Rights and Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
Section 6. No Voluntary Cooperation. No employee of the Township shall officially assist or voluntarily cooperate with investigations, interrogations, or arrest procedures, public or clandestine, that are in violation of individuals’ civil liberties as specified in the Bill of Rights or Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Employees of the Township shall promptly notify the Township Supervisors when, in the course of employment, the following occurs:
An employee of the Township is contacted by a law enforcement agency and asked to cooperate or assist with an investigation, interrogation, or arrest procedure under the provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act, Homeland Security Act, or related Executive Orders, or future enacted law, executive order or regulation, where such procedure is in violation of an individual’s civil rights or civil liberties as specified in the Bill of Rights or Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
Section 7. Defense. The Township shall provide legal defense to any employee who is criminally charged by another entity for his or her actions in compliance with this Ordinance. The Township shall also publicly defend that employee against allegations by federal agencies that the employee has acted, or is acting, in contravention of federal law.
Section 8. Severability. The provisions of this Ordinance are severable, and if any section, clause, sentence, part, or provision thereof shall be held illegal, invalid or unconstitutional by any court of competent jurisdiction, such decision of the court shall not affect, impair, or invalidate parts or provisions of this Ordinance. It is hereby declared to be the intent of the Supervisors that this Ordinance would have been adopted if such illegal, invalid, or unconstitutional section, clause, sentence, part, or provision had not been included herein.
Section 9. Effect. This Ordinance shall be effective immediately upon its enactment.