The East Lansing City Council plans to discuss a resolution submitted by concerned residents condemning the USA Patriot Act as an infringement of their civil rights.
Residents opposing the Patriot Act are expected to address the council during the public comment portion of today's 7 p.m. work session.
The Patriot Act - passed by Congress in October 2001 in response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks - was created "to deter and punish terrorist acts in the United States and around the world."
Mayor Mark Meadows said that the issue deserves public attention.
"There are many questions involving the USA Patriot Act, one of those is the protection of personal liberties that may be implicated by it," Meadows said. "All issues that involve the protection of personal liberties should be discussed in public forum."
He said whether the city needs the resolution is a completely different issue, one that will be discussed today.
According to Mark Corallo, director of the Office of Public Affairs for the U.S. Department of Justice, the Patriot Act requires a federal judge to authorize an investigation as international terrorism or foreign spying in order to obtain records for it.
He added all the act did was put limits on getting the information, and that Congress has oversight of the entire system.
"No court or inspector has found any evidence of any civil liberties being infringed upon," he said.
But some people disagree, saying they believe it does take away civil liberties protected by the Bill of Rights.
Noel Saleh, attorney and post-Sept. 11 specialist for the American Civil Liberties Union, spoke at the East Lansing Public Library on Tuesday to educate people about the act.
Saleh has spoken in the Lansing area, including MSU's campus, on numerous occasions about the controversial act.
"It returned the ability of the justice department to the days when there was little or no judicial supervision of the ability of our government to spy upon us," Saleh said.
But there are a few problems concerning complaints about the Patriot Act, according to MSU-DCL College of Law Professor Brian Kalt.
"Some complaints on the Patriot Act are about things that are not in the Patriot Act at all," he said. "There's a difference between what people are worried about, what the government can do and what they will do.
"The government may not use the powers they have."
Kalt added that if parts are unconstitutional, he has faith that the courts would rule them so.
Some residents are working with members of the ACLU to address citizens' issues, as they are affected by the act.
"ACLU is doing a massive public education campaign to alert people to the threat that is before us, both the threat of terrorism and the threat of an overresponse to that terrorism," said Mary Pollock, vice-president of the Lansing ACLU branch and chairperson of the East Lansing Safe and Free Campaign.
The ACLU started the local chapter of the Safe and Free Campaign to encourage the council to consider a resolution concerning certain aspects of the Patriot Act.
Pollock and the ACLU organized last week's informational meeting, which was attended by about 20 people.
She said although the Patriot Act was passed in the name of fighting terrorism, it "caused terror in the hearts of many of us who love the Bill of Rights and want to protect it."
Telecommunication, information studies and media senior Eric Marzec attended the Patriot Act meeting and said the issue affects everyone and requires cooperation.
"People always talk about rifts between students and residents," he said. "This is where we work together; we can only accomplish it by teamwork."
But others think passing a city resolution will not be an effective measure.
"What they're doing is a good thing," East Lansing resident Brett Gillespie said. "But their effort would make more of an impact if they try and lobby our federal ... officials, rather than city council."
