JUST US at Tuesday's City Council Meeting

Join us at tonight's City Council meeting to remind the Council that it is still up to them to put limits on their police force.

7pm Tonight
City Council Meeting
City Hall Council Chambers

It is not an understatement to say that nothing less than our rights to free speech and free assembly are at stake here. Our ability to express ourselves underlies the ability to resist, to express dissent, and to make change in this world.

Currently, the Council says it wants to wait until after the results of the Independent Investigation are out. So far, this is the game of Pause and Procedure they've played so far, hoping perhaps this issue would cool down. But we have concerns that the city is quietly drafting a policy around police spying behind the scenes without public input. The obvious danger with this is the same as with the policy that the police already proposed:

Until the SCPD has significant protections for people engaged in first amendment activities, they risk violating state and federal constitutional protections and exposing the city to lawsuits. If the City Council is to take charge of the situation they need to put significant limits on the community’s police force to protect people’s right to free speech, assembly, privacy, and due process.

Join us at the City Council meeting to remind the council that this issue has not gone away. We say no to Big Brother, and No to police in our homes and in our meetings.

Rico

Recent Press around Police Spying in Santa Cruz:

Undercover Follies
http://www.metroactive.com/papers/cruz/02.22.06/undercover-0608.html
Metro Santa Cruz, CA - Feb 22, 2006

Santa Cruzans decry spying
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/13911292.htm
San Jose Mercury News, USA - Feb 19, 2006