Column for August 10, 2006

Just within the past few days, I was accused of spouting "the party line" in one of my opinions. Usually, my views run contrary to both major political parties. Occasionally, they align. Rarely do I agree with Democrats on anything. Over the past few years, I have noticed one issue with which we are in agreement. Yes, I know, it may be a sign of the Apocalypse, but I actually agree with the liberals on aspects of The Patriot Act.

There are some provisions of The Patriot Act with which I agree. I don't mind interception of phone calls originating outside the country from known terrorist regions or enemy states. We did the same during the Revolutionary War, just low tech style. There are some major provisions with which I disagree. One with which I strongly disagree is turning librarians and other librarians into spies and servants of the Federal Government's intelligence gathering efforts.

The town of Arcata, California gets it right, in my opinion. As a matter of fact, I do believe that here in the town of Selma, we should adopt an ordinance similar to theirs, with minor revisions. Ordinance 1339 in Arcata states, "No management employee of the City shall officially assist or voluntarily cooperate with investigations, interrogations, or arrest procedures, public or clandestine, that are in violation of individuals’ civil rights or civil liberties…" With that, I wholeheartedly agree. The problem I do see is with another part of the ordinance, "No management employee of the City shall officially engage in or permit unlawful detentions or profiling based on race, ethnicity, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, political or religious association that are in violation of individuals’ civil rights or civil liberties…" I would love to see an ordinance in Selma with that segment amended.

The fact is that the United States has been attacked by certain groups of people. Part of The Patriot Act is designed to access library records in an effort to provide intelligence on terrorist organizations. Honestly, your average "soccer mom", grandma, or student is not the problem, and we all know that. To make their library habits and activities available to the federal government is absurd.

Racial profiling is not a politically correct term or activity. But let's face it, all the alleged hijackers on Sept. 11, 2001 were from a particular area of the world. So were the attackers on the USS Cole, and the first Trade Center attack. The list goes on. So, unless a librarian observes young males checking out books on explosives while studying maps of Selma's pipeline terminals and speaking in Middle Eastern accents, why should anyone care what library activities are going on?

That is the "unreasonable search and seizure" aspect that the town of Arcata, California decided to address. They made it a violation of the town's ordinance to comply with such provisions of The Patriot Act.
I am all for that, since not all laws are legal, nor are they necessarily moral.

About ten years ago, two men, myself being one of them, took a stand when a group of people were being discriminated against here in Selma and vocalized objections to the discriminatory policies that were being enacted in town. I worked at the town's only radio station, back when we still had a radio station. It was unpopular, but it was the right thing to do.

Homeland security begins just as the term says, at home. It is all of our responsibility as citizens to be vigilant about our own protection and that of our fellow human beings. But we must be equally vigilant about protecting the rights of all men. For that reason, I believe that the town council should consider an ordinance similar to Arcata, California's Ordinance 1339. Sometimes, liberals do get it right.

I will put the text of Arcata's ordinance on troylaplante.com, or you can search for it online. It is well worth our consideration.