Bob Kearney: Safe and Free - Your rights vs. the Patriot Act

5:00 p.m. - Potluck Supper // 6:00 p.m. - Program

Bob Kearney is the Associate Director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California. He is a political organizer with experience both in Washington, DC and outside of it, having worked with the ACLU, the Human Rights Campaign, and the Democratic National Committee.

Kearney will illuminate the significant expansion of government power under the Patriot Act and its implications for civil liberties in the U.S. – and the future of the Constitution. For example, sections of the Patriot Act make it possible for government agencies to obtain personal records and information without showing probable cause – a much lower standard than required by the Fourth Amendment.

What can we do about the threat to our Constitution? Says Kearney, “The SAFE Act (S. 1709)…would represent a significant first step toward rolling back some of the Patriot Act’s worse excesses. This legislation…would not hinder the investigative powers law enforcement agencies need to keep us safe, but would instead ensure proper checks and balances on these powers to help keep us free.”

FREE. Co-sponsored by Peninsula Peace and Justice Center and Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom - Peninsula Branch.