Open Letter

An Open Letter to the Government of the United States of America from a Concerned Group of Citizens. June 11th, 2013

To the Citizens of the United States of America and its Elected Officials:
On June 7, 2013, news of the National Security Agency’s electronic surveillance and data mining effort known as PRISM was disclosed to the American public. This disclosure provided evidence that offices within the government of the United States have access to users’ private data through the voluntary compliance of internet and telecommunications corporations including: Verizon, Microsoft, Google, Yahoo!, PalTalk, YouTube, Skype, AOL, and Apple.

Stop PRISM is a grassroots, non-partisan movement. We believe the government of the United States must respect the right to privacy of all its citizens as constitutionally protected by the Fourth Amendment. We seek to end the abuses against our civil liberties and the erosion of this cornerstone of our democracy.

The inalienable rights protected by our own Constitution have been secretly violated by the activities of the NSA. Restore the Fourth was created to demonstrate to our leaders the permanence of the rights of American citizens and the importance of transparency in addressing its constituency. Furthermore, we aim to prove that when these rights are idly ignored, the parties responsible will be held accountable for their own actions.

By restoring our right to privacy we seek to assert our authority as true owners of our digital media. Our files, posts, tweets, and emails should be free from unreasonable searches and seizures without a warrant or probable cause. As citizens we are guaranteed the right to be secure in our "papers and effects."

We will be holding a series of rallies nationwide. The purpose of these rallies will be to demonstrate to our government that we will not stand by while our freedoms are infringed upon. We intend to emphasize the importance of the Fourth Amendment and highlight the apparent disregard which the American government has for it as it has shown through PRISM, the Patriot Act, other instances of warrantless search, seizure, and government surveillance of electronic communications.

The legitimacy of government arises from the Will of the People, and from no other source. During the American Revolution, it was the People who protested for their rights against an unjust government; during the Civil Rights movement, it was the People who protested for equality against institutional racism; and in the new Digital Age, it is We the People who protest for an affirmation of our privacy against warrantless government intrusion. We stand together and call on our representatives to be prepared to take action, just as we are prepared to take action.

Signed,
Stop PRISM

“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.”
-Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution