Another concern of all Madison citizens is civil liberties, which make some recent developments in the city troubling.

Tonight the City Council is discussing renewal of the city’s controversial loitering ordinance, which allows police officers to approach suspicious looking (and according to statistics, usually minority) citizens and question them about possible drug dealings.

Whether intentional or not, this law gives police officers the invitation to trample on the rights of citizens through unannounced “areas of illegal drug activity” and vagaries as to what warrants a police confrontation. The council should let the current sunrise provision take effect and remove this ambiguous and overly broad law off the books.

Here on State Street there are disturbing accounts of the city restricting the free-speech rights of small business owners. The proprietors of Badger Liquor were reportedly told to remove the always-entertaining and award-winning signs from their storefront window because someone felt the signs were offensive. Explicit details of the incident are not clear, but the city should take note of the Supreme Court’s decision in Cohen v. California, which stated that public obscenities should not be presumed illegal if readers may “avert their eyes” — surely the case with Badger Liquor.

Civil liberties are a big issue on the national stage, but it is important to not forget local government has far more impact on our daily lives and requires just as much — if not more — vigilance.