Congress Will Vote Tuesday on Bernie's Reader Privacy Amendment

For the second time in two years, Rep. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) will go to the floor of the House in an effort to cut off funds for bookstore and library searches under Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act. Last year, Sanders came within one vote of passing an amendment to the appropriations bill that funds the Justice Department barring the use of any money in the bill to pay for bookstore or library searches. At one point, a majority of the House voted for the bill. However, the Republican leadership kept the vote open long enough to force several party members to change their minds, and the measure died on a tie vote.

In an alert issued today, the American Booksellers Association called on its members to immediately contact their House representatives to urge them to vote for Sanders' Freedom to Read Amendment. The vote is expected to occur on Tuesday afternoon or Wednesday morning. "ABA strongly recommends that you make calls to your representative's Washington and district offices. Contact information is easily available through the House of Representatives website, http://www.house.gov," the alert said. "Act now! Your help in this fight has brought us this far, and now victory is within sight. E-mail, fax, and call your rep today!"
 

ABFFE, Sam Weller's and King's English Challenge Utah Law

The American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE) joined two Salt Lake City bookstores, Sam Weller's Zion Bookstore and The King's English Bookshop, the Association of American Publishers (AAP), the Freedom to Read Foundation (FTRF) and the Center for Democracy and Technology in filing a court challenge to a new Utah law that bans the display on Web sites of material that is "harmful to minors." "Unless I limit the Web site to children's books or attempt to exclude children from our Web site, I risk the danger of a criminal charge," Betsy Burton, the owner of The King's English, said. "Both of these alternatives are incompatible with the nature of a general community bookstore such as The King's English."

ABFFE has joined AAP, FTRF and other members of Media Coalition in successfully challenging a number of state laws like the Utah law on the grounds that they limit the access of adults to a wide range of material that is protected by the First Amendment, including excerpts from novels, book jackets that depict nudity as well as health and sex education information. ABFFE is also a plaintiff in the challenge to the Child Online Protection Act, a federal Internet censorship law.

Click here for a press release about the Utah case. Click here to see the legal complaint.
 

ABFFE Online Auction Ends Wednesday

The ABFFE Online Auction, featuring some of the best bargains for booksellers anywhere, including many new items from BookExpo America, will end Wednesday at 5 p.m. (Eastern Time). Like the Silent Auction that ABFFE runs during BookExpo, the Online Auction offers the latest books, book sidelines and services, and a wide variety of entertainment items, ranging from DVDs and video games to original artwork and baseball tickets. This year’s Online Auction features an original autographed print from Pulitzer-prize winning political cartoonist Paul Conrad, a $500 Simon & Schuster shopping spree, and an autographed UK edition of "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince." The Online Auction also offers discounts on ticket and hotel packages for many of the regional bookseller association trade shows.

Click here to visit the ABFFE Online Auction.
 

Russ Lawrence, Bonnie Ammer Join ABFFE Board

Russ Lawrence, the owner of Chapter One Book Store in Hamilton, Montana, and Bonnie Ammer, executive vice president and publisher at large of Random House Worldwide, have joined the ABFFE board of directors. Lawrence automatically became vice president of ABFFE when he was elected vice president of the American Booksellers Association. He will serve a two-year term. Ammer, former president and publisher of Fodor's, was elected to a three-year term. Before joining Random House in 1994, she was vice president, director of marketing at Macmillan's Adult Trade and Reference Divisions. They will replace Suzy Staubach of the UConn Co-op, the former ABFFE vice president, and Chuck Robinson, of Village Books in Bellingham, Washington, the former treasurer.