Foes of Patriot Act Convince Aquinnah

By MARK ALAN LOVEWELL

Aquinnah voters unanimously approved a resolution challenging the Patriot Act at their special town meeting on Wednesday. The voice vote brought unified applause. For those campaigning to bring the resolution to other towns, the support was firm.

Specifically, the resolution aims to exempt the town from articles in the USA Patriot Act, passed after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, which limit the protections guaranteed by the Bill of Rights.

Tomorrow night Vineyarders will gather again, this time at the Old Whaling Church in Edgartown for a concert called The un-Patriotic Act. The program of local musicians and authors is part of an ongoing, Island-wide effort to educate the community about the Patriot Act in preparation for voting at town meetings this spring.

The concert is organized by Islanders for Civil Liberties, a grassroots group that sprang to life last fall, partly as a result of discussions on censorship generated during One Book One Island events. Musicians Mike Benjamin, Jemima James and Willy Mason will be joined on the program by poet Linda Black and novelist Richard North Patterson.

Wednesday night's special town meeting was the first in a season that will run through spring. Though the meeting lasted only half an hour and covered only four articles, its significance spread quickly across town borders.

"I am starting to get e-mails from other towns, people saying how pleased they are about this vote," said Jean Entine, coordinator for the Islanders for Civil Liberties, yesterday.

Moderator Walter Delaney pounded the gavel starting the meeting just a few minutes past the 7 p.m. official start. At least 50 voters were seated around the old town hall meeting room, faced by their selectmen. While Mr. Delaney moved the other three articles quickly along, getting affirmation for each, voters took their time in speaking favorably about the resolution.

Jay Gallagher told those gathered that the town was participating in a process that had received the support of over 263 communities across the country, 19 in Massachusetts.

Richard Skidmore, a member of the town board of health, said: "The war, here in the US, against our Constitution, is just as frightening as the one in Iraq. Our traditions and laws, the underpinnings of democracy, have not been ‘eroded,' they have been discarded. The once-derided fears of the militia groups about our government are starting to seem accurate."

Marjorie Spitz, town accountant, and former library trustee, said: "Some groups, such as the Massachusetts Library Association, reacted soon after the Patriot Act was passed by reducing the amount of information they kept stored about us." She continued, "Where do we draw the line between giving our government the tools to protect us from those who mean harm?" She reminded voters that the town will bring forward a bylaw against the Patriot Act at the upcoming annual town meeting this spring.

Beverly Wright, chairman of the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) read a letter from Teri Morse, a friend who couldn't make it to the meeting: "How can we be promoting and extolling our beautiful system of government, of freedom, of liberty all over the world, while at the same time eroding the very laws and substance of our system. Yes, we must apprehend and jail terrorists and their supporters. Of course. But when we do, it must be done with all of our remarkable legal system intact."

Ms. Entine said she was very pleased to see the town vote: "It is very significant, the first opportunity that this has come before the town and it was received popularly."

Ms. Entine's initial goal in forming Islanders for Civil Liberties last fall was to do something with civic pride to combat the threats she perceives posed by the Patriot Act. They first began meeting at the Howes House in West Tisbury. The core meeting of 40 people has since grown. Articles introducing resolutions and bylaws opposing the Patriot Act will come up at various Island town meetings, but for Ms. Entine, her home town mattered a great deal. "This sets a tone that will move onto other towns."

"Aquinnah sometimes has contentious issues. We don't always agree. But last night we did," she said.

Tomorrow night, the spotlight shifts to the stage at the Whaling Church at 7:30 p.m. The program is co-sponsored by a number of nonprofit organizations including the local chapters of the NAACP and the League of Women Voters. The concert is also sponsored by the Wampanoag Tribe, Martha's Vineyard Peace Council and the Social Action Committee of the Martha's Vineyard Hebrew Center and the Bunch of Grapes Bookstore. Tickets are $5.