Go, go, Arcata!

[ambitious_wench]

With thanks to centristsinner for passing this along to the Argy-bargy mailing list. From the city that brought you the Arcata Eye Police Logs, this precious gem:

ARCATA, California (AP) -- More than 100 cities and one
state have passed resolutions condemning the USA Patriot
Act, saying it gives the federal government too much
snooping power. But in this liberal fold of Northern
California's Redwood Curtain, a simple denouncement just
doesn't go far enough.

To cooperate with the act, the City Council says, is
criminal.

Starting this month, a new city ordinance would impose a
fine of $57 on any city department head who voluntarily
complies with investigations or arrests under the aegis of
the Patriot Act, the anti-terrorism bill passed after
September 11.

Arcata's law is mostly symbolic, since federal law trumps
any local ordinance. Still, the notion of civic disobedience
is drawing plenty of attention.

"We knew we were doing something a little bit bold," says
Dave Meserve, the councilman who sponsored the ordinance.
"It certainly did not occur to me that it would catch the
imagination of the American public."

First, haiku and limerick police log entries, now this brilliant bit of civic disobedience. I think I may want to move to California again.
Edie