The Patriot Act was the target of pointed criticism at a rally on campus Monday.
Rep. Tom Udall, D-N.M., shared a makeshift stage on the lawn west of Zimmerman Library with City Councilor Eric Griego and Tova Indritz, secretary of the New Mexico American Civil Liberties Union in protesting the highly controversial act.
The UNM chapter of the ACLU sponsored the event.
Taking the microphone, Udall began a fevered dialogue with an audience that ranged in size - picking up passersby as classes let out then resumed again - from about 35 to more than 100.
"Should your home be searched and you not even be told about it?" Udall asked.
"No!" the crowd responded.
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"Should the government be able to take away your property without a hearing?"
"No!"
"Should we tell John Ashcroft to get out of our bedrooms and out of our homes?"
"Yes!"
The Patriot Act, an acronym for Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism, passed into law six weeks after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.
It introduced an abundance of legislative changes, which significantly increased the surveillance and investigative powers of law enforcement agencies in the United States. Attorney General Ashcroft spearheaded the legislation and its implementation.
Bipartisan opposition says the act has caused a severe decrease in civil liberties in the United States, particularly for minorities.
Udall was the only New Mexico congressperson to vote against the act.
After Sept. 11, widespread support for the Patriot Act surfaced in Washington, D.C., Udall said in an interview after the rally. But in the two years since the attacks, "the whole climate has totally changed."
Two provisions of the act were overturned in the House of Representatives last month. The "sneak and peek" provision, which allows law enforcement officers to enter homes without search warrants, received more than 300 votes against it in the House. The library provision, under which officials can view patrons' Internet records and what books they have checked out, was defeated unanimously.
Overturning the legislation was part of a Department of Justice appropriations bill and will stay in effect for one year, Udall said. It will go before the Senate next month, he said.
Travis Kellerman, a University student and member of UNM-ACLU, said he experienced what he believed was a direct result of the Patriot Act first-hand at Zimmerman Library.
Kellerman said he was checking out some Islamic fundamentalist literature and was asked by library personnel to fill out a new membership application. Library officials also called security, he added.
"Once I found out about the provision in the Patriot Act, it seemed like the most clear reason it happened," Kellerman said. "It's too much of a coincidence."
UNM-ACLU also alleged that the FBI contacted the group after it ran an advertisement for Monday's rally in the Daily Lobo.
"They wanted to know exactly what was going on, exactly what we were doing," UNM-ACLU President Erin Barringer said.
Agent Doug Beldon, spokesman for the Albuquerque FBI office, said no one from his office contacted the group about the rally.
"We don't advocate for or against legislation," Beldon said.
