ACLU Asks City of Madison to Celebrate Anniversary With Disclosures

October 13, 2003

The American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin is marking the one-year anniversary on Wednesday, October 15th of a Madison Common Council Resolution to Defend the Bill of Rights and Civil Liberties. The ACLU of Wisconsin is asking the Mayor to provide details on the city's response to the USA PATRIOT Act. In a letter to Mayor David Cieslewicz, the ACLU of Wisconsin expresses its members concerns that federal law and policies, including the USA PATRIOT Act, may be jeopardizing residents' rights and that city agencies may be pressured into inappropriately aiding federal agencies. "The ACLU of Wisconsin takes the position that many provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act do not make us any safer, but are interfering with sound local law enforcement policies, such as prohibitions against the use of racial or religious profiling," remarked ACLU of Wisconsin Executive Director Chris Ahmuty upon release of the letter to Cieslewicz. The ACLU specifically asks the Mayor to determine if any of the following have occurred:

1. profiling contrary to the Madison Police Department and Chief Williams's stated policy prohibiting random profiling based on race, ethnicity, citizenship, religion or political values,
2. gathering or sharing with federal agencies any information about Madison residents who may dissent from current federal government policies, such as the occupation of Iraq, but are not engaged in any criminal activity,
3. pressure from federal authorities to get the Madison Police Department to enforce civil immigration laws without a formal agreement or training,
4. requests from federal authorities for personally identifiable information regarding Madison residents held by agencies, such as the Madison Public Library.

"The ACLU believes that cooperation between different levels of government can make us safer, but only if all those involve abide by the checks and balances build into our federal system," Ahmuty concluded. The ACLU of Wisconsin's letter is attached.

October 13, 2003

Mayor David Cieslewicz
Office of the Mayor
210 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Room 403
Madison, WI 53703

Dear Mayor Cieslewicz:

On October 15, 2002 the Common Council of the City of Madison passed a Resolution to Defend the Bill of Rights and Civil Liberties. Former Mayor Bauman was one of the resolutions many sponsors. One year later the USA PATRIOT Act, other laws, policies and practices of the federal bureaucracy still threaten the civil liberties of Madison residents.

On behalf of the American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin, I am writing to express our members' concern for the rights of all residents, particularly those who belong to minority faith or ethnic groups. Furthermore, we ask you to take steps to allow citizens to evaluate the implementation of the USA PATRIOT Act, related laws and federal executive orders in Madison.

The City's Resolution to Defend the Bill of Rights and Civil Liberties eloquently articulates the reasons why Madison benefits when local government abides by our laws and resists attempts by the federal government to undermine any resident's rights. While cooperation among agencies from different levels of government is not only appropriate, but crucial to enhance our safety, no cooperation can take place unless all parties are working under the same rules, namely the United States and Wisconsin Constitutions. The City is to be commended for apparently following the law and sound law enforcement practices. The public deserves to know, however, the extent to which federal authorities have sought to compromise local decision-making and allocation of scarce resources. And to what extent, if any, federal authorities have interfered.

The Council passed an amended substitute resolution reaffirming that it is the policy of the City of Madison Police Department "not to engage in random profiling based on race, ethnicity, citizenship, religion or political values." The ACLU of Wisconsin encourages you, upon the first anniversary of the resolution, to seek assurances from the City of Madison Police Department that it has not engaged in profiling in the last year.

In addition, we specifically ask you to determine what activities, if any, the MPD has engaged in with federal authorities, including the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security, in which personally identifiable information on Madison residents (excluding subjects of ongoing criminal investigations) is gathered, shared, exchanged or compiled. This includes but is not limited to gathering or sharing information on residents who may dissent from federal policies, such as the occupation of Iraq. This includes, but is not limited to activities resulting from any participation with the FBI's Wisconsin Joint Terrorism Task Force.

Also, we seek to know whether or not federal authorities have asked the Madison Police Department to enforce civil immigration laws with or without a formal agreement or training.

Finally, we ask that you ascertain whether any City of Madison agency, including the Madison Public Library, has been asked to divulge information on individual Madison residents pursuant to the issuance of a National Security Letter, Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act or by other formal or informal means without probable cause.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely yours,

Christopher Ahmuty
Executive Director