ACLU goes to Baltimore’s Inner Harbor to urge

Marylanders to push for Patriot Act reform

 

 

MEDIA ADVISORY:                                                

Tuesday, June 7, 2005           

 

CONTACT:

Meredith Curtis, 410-889-8550 ext. 115

Will Potter, 202-675-2312 Media@dcaclu.org

BALTIMORE – As part of a nationwide campaign, activists with the American Civil Liberties of Maryland will be hitting the streets tomorrow to draw attention to troubling provisions of the Patriot Act that are currently being considered for reauthorization by the U.S. Congress. Wearing sandwich boards that display personal information, such as “I took Viagra this morning” and “I keep a handgun hidden in my home office,” activists will highlight how the Patriot Act puts Americans’ privacy at risk by allowing law enforcement agencies access to medical, financial, religious and gun purchase records. In addition, current provisions of the law allow law enforcement to conduct secret searches of Americans’ homes or offices.

 

Tomorrow’s demonstration will take place from Noon to 1 p.m. at McKeldin Square at Baltimore’s Inner Harbor.

 

The demonstration is happening as the ACLU and local elected officials from communities across the country are meeting with congressional leaders in Washington, D.C. this week about the Patriot Act. The elected officials, who represent communities that have passed resolutions calling for Patriot Act reform, will deliver copies of those resolutions and remind lawmakers that their constituents want the Patriot Act brought in line with the Constitution. Resolutions against the Patriot Act have also been passed in Prince George’s County, Montgomery County, and Baltimore City, along with many other smaller jurisdictions in Maryland.

 

“Nearly 400 communities - including seven states - have passed resolutions calling on Congress to amend the Patriot Act to restore basic checks and balances,” said Meredith Curtis, a spokeswoman for the ACLU of Maryland. "It is time for concerned Americans to come together and let Congress know that we expect them to protect our rights and civil liberties.”

 

The trip to Washington is part of a larger, national ACLU campaign to reform the Patriot Act. Around the country, elected officials, community leaders and grassroots activists are picking up the pace to make sure the Patriot Act is fixed, not expanded. This week, the ACLU is also unveiling a new Web site, www.reformthepatriotact.org, to help Americans speak out and get more involved in the fight to protect the Constitution. Through this Web site, people can contact their lawmakers and urge them to oppose efforts to expand and make the Patriot Act permanent. They can also urge their lawmakers to, at a minimum, support the common-sense reforms in the bipartisan SAFE Act.

 

“In the coming weeks, Congress will debate whether some of the Patriot Act’s most sweeping provisions should be reauthorized and expanded," said Meredith Curtis. “We encourage Americans here in Baltimore and across the country to join the fight to restore checks and balances, and bring the Patriot Act in line with the Constitution.”

 

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