NM House Passes Resolution Boosting Hometown Liberties - March 24, 2003 Vol. 4 No. 6

March 24, 2003 Vol. 4 No. 6:

Published: 03/24/2003

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NM House Passes Resolution Boosting Hometown Liberties

New Mexico's House of Representatives this month passed a resolution critical of the federal government's strategies for fighting terrorism, strongly suggesting that the federal government's efforts to make Americans safer unnecessarily infringes on civil liberties and that federal secrecy impedes the state's ability to assess "the effect of federal antiterrorism efforts on" the public.

In a not-so-veiled criticism of the federal government's infringements on civil liberties and discriminatory actions to investigate terrorism threats, the state House of Representatives noted that "there is no inherent conflict between national security and the preservation of liberty and that Americans can be both safe and free." The resolution discourages the state police from targeting and tracking individuals and groups based solely on their political positions, race, religion, or ethnicity. It also directs libraries to inform patrons that federal law enforcement agencies may find out the materials that individuals access without those individuals' knowledge.

The resolution passed a committee vote in the Senate and is pending a full Senate vote.

View the status and text of House Joint Memorial 40.