Open letter to Tucson Mayor and Council
Dear Mayor Bob Walkup and Council Members:
Many Tucson citizens participating in the Occupy Wall Street activities at Armory Park have been criminally cited for violating the city park ordinance. City ordinances do not include a policy protecting political expression or assemblies for the common good. We understand that the city attorney Mike Rankin has offered his opinion on the balance between park ordinances and the fundamental rights guaranteed to all citizens by both the Federal and State Constitutions.
We understand that the 'attorney-client privilege' applies to Mr. Rankin's advice to the city council. However, the council is the client, and as the client the council may waive that privilege at any time. We request that the council agrees to make Mr. Rankin's opinion public, providing the residents of Tucson with a document that clearly states what that opinion is. In this way, all of the residents in our community will understand what Mr. Rankin is advising you to do and why.
The Tucson community places great importance on the rights of all people to peacefully assemble, to, among other purposes, discuss their grievances to advance the common good. That right is confirmed by the Arizona Constitution, which states that “governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed, and are established to protect and maintain individual rights.”
Fundamental to our Democracy is the right to petition the government. The Council should be outraged that former State Legislator Ted Downing, clipboard in hand, was arrested along with fellow citizens who signed his petition for Open Elections/ Open Government an initiative to change the Arizona Constitution.
If, the council believes it necessary to treat citizens as criminals, citizens who are exercising their democratic rights and assembling for the common good, this opinion should be made public. The choice is the council’s alone, and not the city attorney's. The sunlight of liberty is the best disinfectant: citizens of Tucson should not be arrested night after night because of the secret opinions and opaque reasoning of others. Our fundamental rights are no secret; they should be primary in decisions concerning the law.
We want to help the council carry out its responsibilities for the sake of all Tucson residents. We all need to examine these fundamental issues. It is only by reaffirming our fundamental principles of freedom and openness that America’s individual rights can be protected and the perpetuity or our democratic government perserved.
Dear Mayor Bob Walkup and Council Members:
We understand that the 'attorney-client privilege' applies to Mr. Rankin's advice to the city council. However, the council is the client, and as the client the council may waive that privilege at any time. We request that the council agrees to make Mr. Rankin's opinion public, providing the residents of Tucson with a document that clearly states what that opinion is. In this way, all of the residents in our community will understand what Mr. Rankin is advising you to do and why.
The Tucson community places great importance on the rights of all people to peacefully assemble, to, among other purposes, discuss their grievances to advance the common good. That right is confirmed by the Arizona Constitution, which states that “governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed, and are established to protect and maintain individual rights.”
Fundamental to our Democracy is the right to petition the government. The Council should be outraged that former State Legislator Ted Downing, clipboard in hand, was arrested along with fellow citizens who signed his petition for Open Elections/ Open Government an initiative to change the Arizona Constitution.
If, the council believes it necessary to treat citizens as criminals, citizens who are exercising their democratic rights and assembling for the common good, this opinion should be made public. The choice is the council’s alone, and not the city attorney's. The sunlight of liberty is the best disinfectant: citizens of Tucson should not be arrested night after night because of the secret opinions and opaque reasoning of others. Our fundamental rights are no secret; they should be primary in decisions concerning the law.
We want to help the council carry out its responsibilities for the sake of all Tucson residents. We all need to examine these fundamental issues. It is only by reaffirming our fundamental principles of freedom and openness that America’s individual rights can be protected and the perpetuity or our democratic government perserved.
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