Over the past few weeks, various members of the online liberal/progressive community, that included quite a few Kossaks, worked together in a democratic fashion to create the Netroots Platform
For those of you who have just joined us, check out DemocracyLover in NYC mothership diary http://www.dailykos.com/... , to get the whole picture. For the Civil and Human Rights Plank, we had a whopping 67 Contributors. Join me over the fold to read the final version
HUMAN RIGHTS AND JUSTICE.
We believe that every citizen regardless of their sex, race, national origin, religion, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability or economic status is entitled to equal protection under the law, to equal access to the benefits of our political and economic system, and to equal access to our courts. We support efforts to integrate individuals with handicaps into the community and workplace. We repudiate the racist and/or violent tendencies of extremist groups. We support a path to citizenship for all immigrants. We support the inherent right to privacy for law-abiding citizens, and the right of individuals to control their own bodies and medical decisions. Constant vigilance is necessary to protect our constitutional rights against efforts to undermine or ignore them.
RESTORE OUR AMERICAN CONSTITUTION AND BALANCES OF POWER IN GOVERNMENT.
Our Constitution is the fundamental framework if our democracy and freedoms. It must be upheld. We must actively secure government of the People, by the People, and for the People.
We believe that the will of the people is expressed through multiple venues, including but not limited to direct democracy, use of our first amendment rights, and the election of representatives to our legislative, executive, and judicial branches.
We resolve to restore the balance of powers between the legislative, executive, and judicial branches, in particular, all Congressional prerogatives such as declarations of war, the power of the purse, challenges to executive overreaching with signing statements and executive orders, enforcement of Congressional subpoenas, and impeachment for high crimes and misdemeanors. We believe that the role of the Congress to advise and consent to the executive branch is a necessary activity, not to be abridged by the theory of a unitary executive.
We believe that the balance and checks on the power of these branches is vital to the continued peace and stability of our nation. We believe that the checks on all of these branches by the people themselves through speech, activism, and voting is a vital right and responsibility.
RESTORE OUR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS AND DEMAND ACCOUNTABILITY.
We resolve to restore our constitutional rights including dissent, free speech, assembly, habeas corpus, privacy, due process of law, and equal protection. To this end, we resolve to put an end to government practices and to repeal or substantially amend laws (including the Patriot Act, the FISA Amendments law and the Military Commissions Act), executive orders, and executive signing statements that attempt to legitimize warrantless surveillance on Americans, the use of secret evidence in military courts, torture, illegal rendition and imprisonment of U.S. citizens and others, and arbitrary racial and religious profiling. We resolve to replace these with laws that reaffirm our fundamental rights and hold accountable all parties who violate those rights.
We resolve to remove from law, policy and practice of the United States the redefinition of torture by the Bush administration. We resolve to support full and complete and independent and open investigations into those creating the new definitions of torture, those who made them the law, policy and practice of the United States, and those who carried out the torture, from the highest to the lowest levels, and to support such criminal charges as are recommended. We resolve to suport a full and complete and open accounting of all those held in US custody and all those rendered and their treatment, since January 21, 2001. We resolve to support the re-signing of the Treaty of the World court by the President of the United States. We resolve to support the closing of the Guantanamo Bay Detention Facility and just and fair and speedy criminal trials for those still held without charge. We resolve to support the swift finding of safe havens for those who have been found innocent whose countries will not allow them to return or who fear torture if they are returned.
GET FISA RIGHT.
We resolve to repeal or substantially amend the FISA Amendments Act, which threatens Fourth Amendment and other fundamental rights and to replace the FISA Amendments Act with a law that restores fundamental rights and holds all parties accountable who violate those rights.
We resolve to conduct a full investigation of illegal government surveillance programs, make public the legal opinions that justified them, and hold accountable those who ordered illegal warrantless surveillance.
We resolve to restore the rule of law and end unchecked unitary executive power by bringing to justice all corporate entities, government agencies, and persons who violated the Fourth Amendment and other fundamental rights.
LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL AND TRANSGENDER/TRANSSEXUAL (LGBT) EQUALITY.
We support the hate crimes bill, known as the Matthew Shepard Act, as approved in the 110th Congress and will renew the effort to pass into legislation a hate crimes bill in order to protect more LGBT Americans from bias-motivated violence.
We support non-discrimination in employment, housing, credit, and public accommodation for LGTB people.
We support repealing the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, as well as Article 125 of the Unified Military Justice Code, to allow all LGBT Americans to proudly defend our country.
We believe in the separation of Church and State. While different religions set different criteria about the sex of people that they marry, the government should not practice discrimination based upon the sex of the intended spouses in the issuance of marriage licenses.
We support the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and explicitly require the Federal Government to consider as married all couples legitimately married or joined in a civil union in a jurisdiction that recognizes these unions.
We believe that the government should recognize all civil unions and domestic partnerships equally.
We believe in a person's freedom to choose how to live his or her life, including the freedom of gender identity and expression and will pass legislation to protect that freedom.
We believe in a country in which all children can have a learning environment in schools safe of harassment and bullying and will pass legislation to that effect.
We support protecting all families and their children equally and explicitly acknowledge the adoption rights of same-sex couples. We will pass legislation to that effect.
DEMOCRACY AND CIVIL RIGHTS FOR PUERTO RICO.
We believe that the disenfranchisement of Puerto Ricans must be a matter of concern for all Americans, since we cherish the ideals of liberty, equality, justice and the inalienable right to choose those who govern us. We believe that it is time to put an end to the gross deficiency of our American democracy in Puerto Rico, which contains the largest group of disenfranchised voters under the American flag, by working towards a non-colonial, non-territorial and fully democratic solution to the 110-year-old dilemma of Puerto Rican colonialism. We believe that the People of Puerto Rico must determine, themselves, their own political future and ultimate relationship with the United States. However, it is encumbent upon the American government to set up a framework to create a genuine and transparent process for self-determination that will be true to the best traditions of democracy. Therefore, we resolve to work with the Puerto Rican People in promoting a deliberative, open and unbiased process toward political self-determination.
We resolve to continue the work started by the White House Task Force on Puerto Rico, as established by President Clinton and continued under President Bush, in order to support the President's role in bringing about a constitutionally viable and binding process for the political self-determination for the people of Puerto Rico.
We resolve to support Congress in a renewed effort to pass existing and/or new legislation aimed at fostering a constitutionally viable, binding and ultimate process of political self-determination for the people of Puerto Rico.
We resolve to support the roles of the Judicial Branch and of the Justice Department in denouncing civil rights violations against our American citizens in Puerto Rico.
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NOTES.
- The 'Human Rights and Justice' Plank was derived from 'Starting Point' Plank written by the 21st Century Democrats and the Civil Rights Plank of the Orange County, NC Democratic Party Platform of 2004..
- The 'Restore our American Constitution and Balances of Power in Government' Plank was derived from the 'Checks and Balances Plank' written by Ianhart and the myBarackObama.com "Restore Our Constitution" Platform event held in Jenkintown, PA.
- The 'Restore our Constitutional Rights and Demand Accountability' Plank was derived from the plank of the same name written by the 'Get FISA Right' group.
- The 'Get FISA Right' Plank was from the plank of the same name written by the 'Get FISA Right' group.
- The 'Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender/transsexual (LGBT) Equality' Plank was derived from the 'LGBT Equality' Plank written by donhitchdc.
- The 'Democracy and Civil Rights for Puerto' plank was derived from the plank of the same name written by Ricardo Rossello, Ph.D.
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