Judge Lifts Gag Order on Connecticut Library Fighting FBI Subpoena

A federal judge in Bridgeport has lifted a gag order that prevented a Connecticut library from revealing that the FBI is trying to obtain the records of one of its customers. The judge ruled on Friday that the gag ordered violated the librarian's First Amendment right to participate in the current debate over the re-authorization of the USA PATRIOT Act and did not pose a danger of exposing the FBI's counter-terrorism investigation. Judge Janet Hall has temporarily stayed her order, allowing the government to appeal. Her decision is online here.

The Connecticut library case came to light in August when the ACLU challenged a National Security Letter (NSL) that had been issued to the librarian to obtain records of a patron's use of the Internet during a visit to the library. The PATRIOT Act expanded the use of NSL's, which allow the FBI to obtain the names of Internet users as well as records showing what Web sites they have visited.

The Campaign for Reader Privacy, which represents booksellers, librarians, publishers and writers, issued a press release last week pointing out that the Connecticut case underscores the importance of restoring safeguards for reader privacy that were eliminated by the PATRIOT Act. “The Connecticut case proves that despite the claims that the PATRIOT Act will rarely if ever be used to search reader records, the FBI is prepared to exercise its extraordinary power whenever it believes it is necessary. When that happens, it is critical that we have safeguards in place to ensure that this power is not abused,” Michael Gorman, the president of the American Library Association, said. To read the release, click here.

Reader Privacy Petitions To Be Delivered to Capitol Hill This Week

Representatives of the Campaign for Reader Privacy will deliver petitions bearing over 200,000 signatures to Capitol Hill this week, bringing to a conclusion a signature drive that was launched by hundreds of bookstores and libraries across the country in February 2004. Representatives of the Campaign, which includes the American Booksellers Association, the American Library Association, PEN American Center and the Association of American Publishers, will present the petitions to Congressional leaders of the fight to restore reader privacy as well as the Senate conferees who will meet soon with their House counterparts to work out differences between the House and Senate bills re-authorizing the expiring sections of the PATRIOT Act. The House conferees have not been chosen yet.

The Campaign for Reader Privacy is urging its supporters to contact the Senate conferees to urge them to push for adoption of the Senate re-authorization bill, S. 1389. They are Arlen Specter (R-PA), Pat Roberts (R-KS), Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Michael DeWine (R-OH), Jon Kyl (R-AZ), Orrin Hatch (R-UT), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Edward Kennedy (D-MA), Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) and Carl Levin (D-MI).

“We are on the verge of restoring the safeguards for the privacy of bookstore and library records–something we have been seeking for two and a half years,” Oren Teicher, chief operating officer of the American Booksellers Association, said. “We are asking the friends of reader privacy to let their voices be heard in Congress one more time.”

ABFFE Sponsors Banned Books Week Program at New York Public Library

Some of the most challenged authors in the country will read from their works during a Banned Books Week program at the New York Public Library on September 29 from 6 to 8 p.m. Authors Judy Blume, Walter Dean Myers, Robert Lipsyte, Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, Deborah Hautzig and Peter Sis are scheduled to appear at the event, which will be held in the Donnell Library Center Auditorium, 20 W. 53rd St. Artists Nora Ligorano and Marshall Reese, who have mounted an art installation--"FREE SPEECH ZONE"--at the Donnell Library, will also speak. People interested in attending are encouraged to arrive early because seating is limited. The program is co-sponsored by the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, the National Coalition Against Censorship and PEN American Center.