To the Massachusetts Congressional Delegation

We, the undersigned, urge you to work for a repeal of sections of the USA PATRIOT Act that threaten the civil liberties and civil rights protections that are hallmarks of our constitutional system. These include provisions that:

• give sweeping new powers of detention, surveillance and search to law enforcement agencies, and deprive the courts of meaningful judicial oversight to ensure that these powers are not being abused;
• legitimate "guilt by association," and permit the government to detain non-citizens indefinitely even if they have never been convicted of a crime;
• create a broad new crime of "domestic terrorism" that can be used to stifle dissent.

We also ask you to take a firm stand against discrimination and racial profiling, and to call for Congressional hearings into Executive policies that undermine the Bill of Rights.

Please return to: Jewish Alliance for Law and Social Action (JALSA), Suite 320, 18 Tremont Street, Boston, 02108
For information, contact Sheila Decter, decter@jalsa.org  or Nancy Murray of the ACLU of Mass. numurray@aol.com