NORTHAMPTON, MA - July 19 - Antiterrorism laws and policies since September 11, 2001, have triggered widespread debate about Americans’ constitutional rights to free speech, assembly, privacy, and due process. To help voters choose candidates who share their views on civil liberties this November, the Bill of Rights Defense Committee (BORDC) has developed an easy to use voter education kit (http://bordc.org/Candidates.htm). The packet includes:

· Instructions and a timeline for preparing candidate questionnaires and publicizing the results;

· Sample questions to pose to candidates about the USA PATRIOT Act, privacy, immigrant rights, and government accountability;

· Other opportunities for engaging candidates on civil liberties issues;

· Links to online voter information resources; and

· Links to laws that currently restrict civil liberties

According to Nancy Talanian, BORDC’s director, “To many Americans, civil liberties and the rule of law are the soul of this country. We want voters to know where the candidates stand on these vital issues, so they can make informed choices when they cast their ballots.”

Talanian hopes voters will reject assertions that candidates who would amend the hastily passed USA PATRIOT Act are ‘soft on terrorism’, and notes that the New York City Council is among the 339 government bodies in 41 states that have passed resolutions protecting their residents’ civil liberties from parts of the USA PATRIOT Act. She points out that “a federal judge has declared part of the USA PATRIOT Act ‘unconstitutionally vague,’ and the Supreme Court has dismissed the Executive Branch’s claim of extraordinary powers to hold U.S. citizens and foreign nationals as enemy combatants indefinitely without judicial review. Voters can either wait decades for the Supreme Court to decide the constitutionality of every controversial section of the USA PATRIOT Act, or they can vote in November for candidates who are committed to both our country’s security and our Constitution.”

The Bill of Rights Defense Committee is a national nonprofit organization that encourages communities to take an active role in an ongoing national debate about the USA PATRIOT Act and other antiterrorism measures that threaten civil liberties guaranteed by the Bill of Rights. BORDC’s web site, bordc.org, tracks the grassroots movement of cities, towns, and states passing civil liberties resolutions and provides resources and information to support education and debate on civil liberties issues.

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