PSA: Restore the Fourth

Long time readers will know that one of the things I enjoy most about running this site is the opportunity it affords me to provide a forum for conversation. With that in mind, I am delighted to share (below) a marketing piece provided by a friend of the site, Summer Nazer, who is involved with an effort to protest government surveillance. For more information on the cleverly named 'Rally to Restore the Fourth', readers can visit here. If any readers would like to assist in the organization effort, they can visit here. 

Rally to Restore the Fourth in Washington D.C.

“Freedom is Never More than One Generation Away from Extinction”

Washington D.C. (June 21, 2013) – This Fourth of July hundreds of concerned area residents will gather in McPherson Square to demand the restoration of the Fourth Amendment rights for all Americans. The event is part of a nationwide movement called Restore the Fourth. Rallies will take place in cities and towns across the country. A grassroots, non-partisan coalition of individuals came together online to organize the rallies after a whistleblower revealed a massive government spying program that records information about American citizens.

    Rally to Restore the Fourth

    Date: July 4, 2013

    Location: McPherson Square

    Time: 12:00 – 2:00 pm

“This is not just about whether or not you trust your government,” said event organizer Andrea O’Neill. “The Founding Fathers wrote protections into the Constitution so that no administration, an Obama Administration or a Joseph McCarthy Administration, could violate the rights of Americans. It is our obligation as citizens to defend the Constitution.”

Restore the Fourth stands with more than 80 internet companies and organizations that have signed on with StopWatching.us. We call upon Congress to:

1. Reform Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act, the state secrets privilege, and the FISA Amendments Act to make clear that blanket surveillance of the Internet activity and phone records of any person residing in the U.S. is prohibited by law;
2. Investigate, report, and reveal to the public the extent of this domestic spying;
3. Hold accountable those public officials who are found to be responsible for this unconstitutional surveillance.

The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution:

"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."