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HJM 40: AFFIRMING CIVIL RIGHTS AND LIBERTIES Explanation of HJM 40 HJM 40 declares the New Mexico legislature’s belief that: Government should protect the public from terrorist attacks in a rational and deliberative fashion; and National security and the preservation of liberty are not in inherent conflict. Americans can live both safe and free. HJM 40 does not interfere with the ability of law enforcement to investigate and arrest for terrorism. It only asks that authorities carry out those functions in observance of our rights under the New Mexico and U.S. constitutions. Specifically, it directs state police to: refrain from conducting surveillance on New Mexico residents unless the police have particularized suspicion of criminal activity; provide prior notice of the execution of search warrants, as required by the 4th Amendment; enforce only criminal law, not federal immigration law (for which state police have no training or resources); refrain from racial profiling unless race is only part of a description that is being used to identify a specific criminal suspect. HJM 40 ensures that New Mexicans are notified when their privacy is not secure at libraries and when their educational records have been turned over to the police. HJM 40 asks the state’s homeland security department to produce six-month reports about terrorism investigations and detentions in the state so that the state legislature can assess the effect of federal anti-terrorism efforts on the residents of New Mexico. Facts about the USA Patriot Act and Anti-terrorism Congress deliberated a mere six weeks before passing Public Law 107-56, the USA Patriot Act. The last time Congress passed anti-terrorism legislation--the 1996 Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act--it deliberated for over a year. The USA Patriot Act contains many provisions that Congress weeded out of the 1996 Act because of questions about constitutionality. Attorney General Ashcroft asserts that extraordinary powers are needed to protect national security. Yet the last time America saw a major terrorist attack on domestic soil—the Oklahoma City Bombing—the perpetrators were arrested, tried, and convicted using standard criminal laws. Federal law enforcement doesn’t need more powers, it needs to use its existing powers more effectively. One of the primary functions of the USA Patriot Act is to “streamline” judicial oversight of criminal investigations. The USA Patriot Act has impaired or eliminated the ability of federal judges to monitor: Wiretaps of phone and electronic communication; Indefinite detention and deportation of immigrants; Subpoenas for broad access to personal, medical, financial, consumer, and educational records. Transfer of information between federal agencies. Less than 10 percent of the provisions in the USA Patriot Act will sunset. Provisions for notice-less searches, indefinite detention of immigrants, and the most intrusive powers for telephone and electronic communication surveillance will remain as federal law unless Congress moves to repeal or they are challenged in court. Voices Defending Freedom, Post-9/11 James Sensenbrenner (R-WI), Chair of the House Judiciary Committee (“J. Edgar Hoover Is Back” Washington Times, 6/10/2002) “The Justice Department has gone too far. [We can have security]… without throwing respect for civil liberties into the trash heap. We don't have to go back to the bad old days when the FBI was spying on people like Martin Luther King.” Wayne LaPierre, Executive Vice President of the NRA “We've witnessed a fire sale of American liberties at bargain basement prices, in return for the false promise of more security...The America being designed right now won't resemble the America we've been defending….The danger isn't that Big Brother may storm the castle gates. The danger is that Americans don't realize that he is already inside the castle walls.” Dick Armey (R-TX), House Majority Leader and Chair of the House Select Committee on Homeland Security, (“Armey: Justice ‘Out of Control’” USA TODAY, 10/16/2002) “I told the President I thought his Justice Department was out of control… Are we going to save ourselves from international terrorism in order to deny the fundamental liberties we protect to ourselves?… It doesn’t make sense to me.” New Mexicans can be both Safe and Free Please support HJM 40! Provided as an educational service of the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico (505) 266-5915

Participant Comments follow below

i think it sad for your group to have the ten commandments in alabama to come off.even though im different,if i was them i would sue yall for sue for everything yall have.a christian friend of mine,yes i said christian friend told me to tell you,that if america didnt repent of her sins,GREAT JUDGEMENT WAS COMING TO AMERICA.YOU PEOPLE NEED TO WAKE UP AND SMELL THE COFFEE.WHERE DO YOU THINK THE BAD STORMS ARE COMING FROM THE WEATHER,ITS SURE NOT GLOBAL WARMING LIKE EVERYBODY BELIEVES,ITS GOD!!!!!!!I HOPE YALL GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER,PS WATCH THE WEATHER GET WORSE,IF YOU DONT BELIEVE IN GOD THATS YOUR CHOICE,I GUESS YOU DONT BELIEVE IN HELL EITHER DO YOU,WELL ITS REAL AND PEOPLE WILL BURN IN HELL!!!! TIDALWAVE TIDALWAVE7@DISCOCOW.COM 08/27/03 14:48:16 GMT