As citizens of the United States, we are living at a time when we all know that the Constitution and the Bill of Rights are under attack. And we are concerned. Santa Cruz is a community hailed and known for its relatively progressive and liberal positions, for often being a beacon of hope, and a seed pod for initiating change and action about very important issues. I want to share some information and thoughts about discrepancies that I see here at home, and farther away, in our commitment to the Constitution. I believe they need serious attention and redress.

We have done well as a community in expressing right action about issues far away. The City Council of Santa Cruz, UCSC Faculty Senate, and UCSC Student Government took action opposing the invasion of Iraq, which was not only unconstitutional but criminal; we called for the investigation and impeachment of the Bush Administration for constitutional reasons among others; Santa Cruz City Council, high school students, and libraries in Santa Cruz opposed the Patriot Act as a violation of constitutional rights; and we opposed discrimination against the gay community by calling for marriage equality (which does have a local component in the attempt to issue marriage licenses right here!). The question for me is about abuses of the Constitution, and particularly the First Amendment, right here at home, and what I believe is a lack of adequate concern, leadership, and response.

More and more space on Pacific Avenue is becoming privatized, turned into cafe seating or simply fenced off, which further restricts First Amendment activities, since all distance regulations are measured from the farthest point of the fencing. The pleas of activists about very obvious selective enforcement of these ordinances against certain classes of people, which is a violation of State Law and the US Constitution, go, for the most part, unheeded. And many folks believe that the enforcement of the sleeping ban itself violates the principle of "the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."

The police have guns, clubs, mace, tear gas, and the ability to arrest people - now they apparently are using money as another form of control. As in the rest of our society, money seems to be the bottom line, and if it costs enough, maybe people will do what they are told, or will decide not to do what they really want to! (One of the most prohibitive costs to organizing events in Santa Cruz is the assignment of extra police personnel, which is left entirely to the discretion of the department.)

I feel that we have failed locally to adequately defend the Constitution, and particularly the First Amendment, both as officials and as common citizens. We cannot create a lasting justice far away until we have created it right here at home. We must think globally AND locally, and act with equal conscience and intention in both arenas.

[ Pacific Avenue Rag I Letter to Santa Cruz City Council - Try Again! I Letter to Congressman Sam Farr ]