Book Groups See Progress on Patriot Act

The Campaign for Reader Privacy (CRP) is reporting progress in the fight to restore the safeguards for the privacy of bookstore and library records that were eliminated by Section 215 of the Patriot Act. While Congress recently voted to extend Section 215 and two other expiring provisions for a year without any changes, leading some to see a setback for civil liberties, the Campaign believes that developments in 2009 have laid a strong legislative foundation for securing significant new protections for library circulation and bookstore sales records when the debate over reauthorization resumes later this year.

"While we are disappointed that more substantive, long-term remedies were not included in the extension, we are heartened that significant protections to reader privacy made during the reauthorization fight in 2005-2006 have been preserved," said ABA CEO Oren Teicher. "In the coming months, we will continue to make the case for full protection of reader privacy, and we are confident of ultimate victory in this fight."

Last year, the Senate and House Judiciary Committees passed re-authorization bills that provided additional protections for bookstores and library records. The House bill prohibited the use of Section 215 to search the records of a library patron or bookstore customer unless there are "specific and articulable facts" to show that the person is "a suspected agent of a foreign power" or someone who is in contact or known to the suspected agent. The Senate bill provided enhanced protections for library patrons.

Unable to consider the legislation before the December 31 expiration date, Congress voted a two-month extension. Changes in the mood on Capitol Hill resulting from the failed attempt to bomb an airliner over Detroit on Christmas Day and other developments convinced supporters of Patriot Act reform that the timing was inopportune for debate over a full reauthorization measure. The one-year temporary extension (the new expiration date is February 28, 2011) will provide breathing room for the Campaign for Reader Privacy and others seeking greater protections for civil liberties to realign and reinvigorate their lobbying efforts.




The Alaska Senate is considering a bill that would make it a felony for a bookseller to sell a book with sexual content to a minor under 16. Senate Bill 222 has no safeguards against the possibility that a bookseller might be prosecuted for selling a minor a book with sexual content that is actually intended for minors. A bookseller could face jail time for selling a 15-year-old a copy of Robie Harris' bestselling sex education book, It's Perfectly Normal.

Working with Alaska booksellers and Media Coalition, its legislative watchdog, ABFFE has succeeded in improving the House version of the bill, which now includes most of the safeguards that are required by the U.S. Supreme Court. However, several problems remain. The House Finance Committe holds a hearing on the bill on Friday. S.B. 222 has not received a hearing yet. Click here for Media Coalition's memo in opposition to S.B. 222 and here for the memo criticizing the amended House bill.


ABFFE Applauds Lifting of Ban on Foreign Scholars

ABFFE recently joined 20 other organizations in a letter thanking Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton for rescinding orders banning scholars Tariq Ramadan and Adam Habib from entering the United States.

Ramadan and Habib were banned by the Bush administration on the basis of allegations that they were supporters of terrorism. The exclusion policy was challenged in court on the grounds that its aim was not to stop terrorism but to silence critics of American policy, denying the American people the opportunity to hear the criticism and judge for themselves. Dozens of people were denied entry to the U.S. under this policy. ABFFE joined an amicus brief in this case.


Blume's Forever to Remain on Library's Shelves

ABFFE recently joined the National Coalition Against Censorship and others in a successful protest of the proposed ban on Judy Blume's seminal coming-of-age story, Forever. A parent of a student in the Sugarloaf Public School in Summerland Key, Florida, objected to the novel's "distorted view of sex [and] promiscuity," claimed that its presence in the school library was "usurping parental control," and demanded its removal. ABFFE, NCAC and a number of other national groups responded in a letter to Principal Theresa N. Axford. Axford organized a committee to review the book, which rejected the challenge.

Blume commented on the challenge to Forever in a blog post. "What matters most is that young people continue to have a choice in reading materials," she wrote. "What may not be right for one parent's child may be exactly right for another's. Imagine if we pulled every book from the school library that presents ideas and situations we may not agree with ourselves! Instead, if we learn to talk to our kids, listen to what they have to say, and learn to trust them, we won't have to worry about the books they choose to read."

Show Your Support for Freadom!

ABFFE's popular "freadom" t-shirts, buttons, bookmarks, bumper stickers and more are available during Banned Books Week and all year round. 

To order online, visit the ABFFE store.