April 15, 2004
PATRIOT Act on City Council agenda tonight
The Tampa City Council on Thursday plans to wade into the national debate about the USA Patriot Act, which broadened law enforcement powers after the Sept. 11 attacks.An organization called Tampa: Safe and Free asked the council to support a resolution calling for the nation to ``repeal, curtail or reform'' the antiterrorism law, which the group contends infringes on civil liberties.
The Patriot Act allows for everything from roving wiretaps of cell phones to tracking the reading habits of public library and bookstore users.
In addition to threatening the ``basic civil rights of Tampa residents,'' the law can add costs to cities by requiring local law enforcement to be the first responder to enforce federal immigration laws, said Rochelle Reback, a Tampa lawyer in the group.
The council plans to address the issue at its meeting at 5:30 p.m. Thursday in city hall.
``It is not technically in our bailiwick, but symbolism counts,'' said Councilwoman Linda Saul-Sena, who helped get the item on the meeting agenda. ``As a patriotic public official, I feel concerned about ... the erosion of civil liberties.''
Updated: links added and time stamp changed to keep this post at the top of the page until this afternoon.
Posted by Norwood at April 15, 2004 05:30 PM