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WHEREAS the City of Pittsburgh is proud of its long and distinguished tradition of protecting the civil rights and liberties of its residents;
WHEREAS the City of Pittsburgh has a diverse population, including immigrants and students, whose contributions to the community are vital to its economy, culture and civic character;
WHEREAS the preservation of civil rights and liberties is essential to the well-being of a democratic society;
WHEREAS federal, state and local governments should protect the public from terrorist attacks such as those that occurred on September 11, 2001, but should do so in a rational and deliberative fashion to ensure that any new security measure enhances public safety without impairing constitutional rights or infringing on civil liberties;
WHEREAS government security measures that undermine fundamental rights do damage to the American institutions and values that the residents of the City of Pittsburgh hold dear;
WHEREAS the Council of the City of Pittsburgh believes that there is no inherent conflict between national security and the preservation of liberty -- Americans can be both safe and free;
WHEREAS federal policies adopted since September 11, 2001, including provisions in the USA PATRIOT Act (Public Law 107-56), The Homeland Security Act of 2002, and related executive orders, regulations, and actions threaten fundamental rights and liberties by:
(a) Authorizing the indefinite incarceration of non-citizens based on mere suspicion, and the indefinite incarceration of citizens designated by the President as "enemy combatants" without access to counsel or meaningful recourse to the federal courts;
(b) Limiting the traditional authority of federal courts to curb law enforcement abuse of electronic surveillance in anti-terrorism investigations and ordinary criminal investigations;
(c) Expanding the authority of federal agents to conduct so-called "sneak and peek" or "black bag" searches, in which the subje...
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