Report to General Assembly 2004 from Office for Congregational Advocacy and Witness on Congregational Implementation of the Study Action Issue on Civil Liberties

The SAI on Civil Liberties is up for vote as a Statement of Conscience at the 2004 General Assembly in Long Beach CA. Defense of civil liberties is a core Unitarian Universalist value and this is reflected in the virtual explosion of congregational activity in this vital arena. UU congregations participated broadly in the interfaith Civil Liberties Weekend of October 24-26th. Across the country, UUs hosted forums to defend civil liberties from the UU Fellowship of the Eastern Slopes in Chocura NH to the First Unitarian Congregational Society in Brooklyn to the UU Church of Boulder CO and First Unitarian Church of Oakland. Eleven Northeast Ohio Unitarian Universalist congregations and the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee presented an all-day forum on protecting civil liberties. Dozens of congregations have been instrumental in passing bill of rights resolutions and provisions for non-cooperation with some of the more egregious aspects of expansion of government powers included in the Patriot and Homeland Security Acts.

UU Church of Restoration in Philadelphia hosted a major forum on the Patriot Act in March to explore the tension between increasing security and defending against terrorism and protecting civil liberties. Speakers included a representative from the US Department of Justice, Temple University Law School professors, and the ACLU. Contact: Sandra J Fulton, Social Justice Committee at medieval_student@earthlink.net.

All Souls NYC Peace Task Force was at the forefront of an effort to make New York City a civil liberties safe zone. New York City became the 250th legislative body in the country to pass a Bill of Rights resolution. An article in the congregational newsletter explains, “It was largely in the name of New Yorkers who perished on 9/11 that the federal government adopted these antiterrorism policies, which have sacrificed many of our fundamental rights and freedoms. By adopting this resolution, New Yorkers said “No”—to the rounding up of thousands of innocent immigrants, to detentions without charges of U.S. citizens, to snooping into our private records, to the stifling of political speech.” The All Souls Peace Task Force is a coalition member of the New York Bill of Rights Defense Campaign (NYBORDC), which is comprised of community organizations, including the Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee, that have endorsed the campaign. All Souls Peace Task Force members organized an advocacy effort to send letters and make phone calls to City Council members and attended rallies in support of the Resolution. Contact: Hanan Watson at hswatson@nyc.rr.com.

UU Community Church of Southwest Michigan passed a congregational resolution this spring urging the congregation’s federal, state, and local representatives “to actively work for the revocation of any sections of the USA PATRIOT and Homeland Security Acts and any federal legislation, including the proposed Domestic Security Enhancement Act of 2003 (PATRIOT II) and any federal legislation, orders or directives which limit or violate the fundamental rights and liberties enumerated and contained in the Constitutions of the United States and State of Michigan, treaties of the United States or the Ordinances of all local governments, and to restore the checks and balances inherent in our constitutional tradition.”

Since the congregation passed the resolution it has been given to the Portage City Council, sent to the entire Michigan congressional delegation, and to the local newspaper, which did an article about their effort. They also sent it to their state representatives and senators, to county officials, and to the City of Kalamazoo which has since passed a resolution. Contact: Lin Foote at j.l.foote@wmich.edu.

The Social Action Committee of the UU Society Unitarian of Peterborugh NH Committee’s choice of topics closely followed the issues prioritized at General Assembly. Of particular note was the committee¹s work to raise awareness about the threats to basic rights posed by The USA Patriot Act federal legislation that was hurriedly enacted in the time period immediately following the 9/11/01 attack. The committee led a community-wide effort that culminated with the town passing a resolution to defend civil liberties. At the time of their town meeting Peterborough became the 68th municipality or state to have such a resolution. Since then the committee helped produce a large public event on September 20th designed to promote UU social action issues during the 2004 Presidential campaign. They also sponsored the Rolling Thunder Tour in Manchester NH which featured Michael Moore as the speaker. Contact: John W. Friede at jwfriede@earthlink.net.

All Souls UU Church in Kansas City MO presented a resolution to the Kansas City Council, which was passed, stating the Patriot Act will not be enforced when it is in conflict with citizens' civil rights. Contact: Caron Wells at CaronWells@aol.com.

For the text of the Study Action Issue and the Study Action Guide on Civil Liberties see www.uua.org/csw/saiy2.htm. For more resources and information on civil liberties see www.uua.org/programs/justice/issues_civilliberties.html and www.uua.org/uuawo/new/article.php?list=type&type=22

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