San Francisco Gray Panthers healthcare resolution for 2008 National Convention

Repeal the Patriot Act

Whereas under the guise of fighting terrorism, the Patriot Act and associated measures have

• WEAKENED and/or abrogated the First Amendment rights of free speech and peaceable assembly

• WEAKENED  and/or abrogated the Fourth Amendment prohibition against unreasonable search and seizure without probable cause

• WEAKENED and/or abrogated the Fifth Amendment nullifying due process and allowing indefinite incarceration without a trial

• WEAKENED and/or abrogated the Sixth Amendment, the right to prompt and public trial

• WEAKENED and/or abrogated the Eighth Amendment, protecting against cruel and unusual punishment

by allowing and conducting widespread wiretaps, secret searches, internet surveillance, FBI access to personal data, CIA  domestic surveillance, torture, and Justice Department arbitrary designation of domestic organizations as terrorist groups, thereby undercutting the civil liberties guaranteed to the people of the United States of America by the Constitution and the Bill of Rights

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED

The Gray Panthers urge the Congress to repeal the Patriot Act and all associated measures which institute domestic terrorism in the name of fighting international terrorism.