Orange County Peace Coalition launched a drive to collect signatures on a petition that calls on the local governments "not to participate, to the extent legally permissible, in law enforcement activities that threaten civil rights and civil liberties of the people of Orange County, such as surveillance, wiretaps and securing of private information, which the USA PATRIOT Act and new Executive Orders authorize."
Carrboro aldermen passed a resolution taking such a stand on June 25, the first in North Carolina. Carrboro joins citizens in Amherst, Mass.; Ann Arbor, Mich.; Berkeley, Calif.; Cambridge, Mass.; Denver; Leverett, Mass.; Northampton, Mass.; and Portland, Ore., have taken action and been successful in urging their elected officials to monitor any abuses of civil liberties that might occur as a result of legislation, such as the USA Patriot Act, passed after Sept. 11, 2001. Boulder, Colo., is expected to join them.
In addition, the coalition collected the signatures of citizens attending the Annual Carrboro 4th of July Community Celebration from the jurisdictions of Chatham, Durham and Wake counties. Many individuals were unaware of the USA Patriot Act and its significance, and educational events are planned.
Currently eight groups make up the Orange County Peace Coalition: Campaign to End the Cycle of Violence, Carolina Interfaith Task Force on Central America, Charles M. Jones Peace and Justice Committee of the Community Church of Chapel Hill, Peace 1st, Peace and Social Concerns Committee of Chapel Hill Friends Meeting, Orange County Peace Action, Students United for a Responsible Global Environment and Women's International League for Peace and Freedom.
Margaret Misch
Peace Action
Chapel Hill
