Reader Privacy Petitions Delivered to Congress

More than 500 bookstores sent a strong message to Washington on September 29 when the Campaign for Reader Privacy delivered petitions bearing over 185,000 signatures to members of Congress at a Washington press conference. The petitions, which urge Congress to restore the protections for reader privacy that were eliminated by the USA PATRIOT Act, were collected over a seven-month period in bookstores, libraries and the Campaign's Web site, www.readerprivacy.org. At the press conference, Oren Teicher, chief operating officer of the American Booksellers Association, explained that booksellers were fulfilling a promise. "We promised our customers that we would present their signatures to Congress, and we are proud to fulfill that promise," Teicher said. "It is not just booksellers, librarians, publishers and writers that are urging Congress to restore the protections for reader privacy. The readers of America are demanding the right to read freely."

The petitions were presented to Rep. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), the author of the Freedom to Read Protection Act (H.R. 1157), which exempts bookstore and library records from Section 215 of the PATRIOT Act. Salman Rushdie, the president of PEN American Center, Patricia Schroeder, the president of the Association of American Publishers and Carla Hayden, the immediate past president of the American Library Association, also spoke. ABA, ALA, PEN and AAP are sponsors of the Campaign for Reader Privacy.


"Tong Ting" Released by Customs After ABFFE Protest

There is a happy ending to the story of the children's book, "Tong Ting Finds A Family," that was seized in July by U.S. Customs. Last month, the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression sent a letter to Customs protesting the seizure of 3,000 copies of the book that were being shipped from a printer in China to the author, Elizabeth Cooke, an assistant professor of English at the University of Maine at Farmington. The Bush administration had barred the shipper from doing business in the United States because its parent company, China North Industries, is suspected of having shipped missile parts to Iran. In a letter to Customs officials, ABFFE and the Freedom to Read Foundation argued that the seizure was an act of censorship, whether it was intended or not. The seizure was reported to ABFFE by Kenny Brechner, owner of Devaney Doak & Garrett Booksellers in Farmington.

Customs agreed to release the books on Oct. 30 on the grounds that informational material is exempt from seizure. By that time, U.S. Senator Susan Collins of Maine had expressed concern over the seizure. The New York Times was working on a story about the case.


Michigan Booksellers Welcome Decision Clarifying Display Law

Michigan booksellers are expressing relief over a recent legal decision that makes it clear that a new state law regulating the display of material that is "harmful to minors" will not force them to place "Joy of Sex," "Of Mice and Men," "Portnoy's Complaint" and other titles with serious literary value in a separate "adults only" section of their stores. In January, six booksellers joined the Great Lakes Booksellers Association, ABFFE and others in filing a lawsuit charging that the law violated First Amendment rights because it was so vaguely written that they could be charged with violating the law for displaying a wide range of constitutionally protected material that might be "harmful."

Booksellers were concerned because the law, which was approved last year, provides up to two years in jail and a $10,000 fine for anyone who allows a minor to examine "harmful" works. On Sept. 2, U.S. District Court Judge Anna Diggs Taylor dismissed the booksellers' complaint. However, in her decision, she made it clear that the law only affects books, magazines and other material that have "harmful" material on their covers. She also declared that a bookseller cannot be punished if a minor is found reading a "harmful" work in the store as long as he or she takes steps to correct the situation when it is discovered. "Judge Taylor dismissed our complaint, but she also eased our concerns," Jim Dana, executive director of the Great Lakes Booksellers Association, said. "The new law will not change the way booksellers in Michigan do business."

The Michigan bookstores that challenged the law are Athena Book Shop in Kalamazoo; Books & More in Albion; Lowry's Books, with locations in Three Rivers and Sturgis; Nicola's Books in Ann Arbor; Schuler Books, Inc. with locations in Grand Rapids, Okemos, Lansing, and Walker; and Shaman Drum Bookshop in Ann Arbor. The other plaintiffs were the Association of American Publishers, the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, the Freedom to Read Foundation, and the International Periodical Distributors Association.


U.S. Senate Approves Bill to Reduce Government Secrecy

The U.S. Senate last week approved the establishment of an Independent National Security Classification Board to review contested classification decisions and to recommend to the President that a particular document be declassified. The legislation, which was sponsored by Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Trent Lott (R-MS), does not require the President to declassify the document, but he must send a written justification of his decision not to classify to the Congress. The House is considering a similar measure.

ABFFE has joined other free expression groups in supporting bills to curb government secrecy, which has grown rapidly since 9/11. The increase in government secrecy during the Bush administration is the subject of a new report by U.S. Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-CA). "The Bush Administration has an obsession with secrecy," Waxman said in releasing the report, which is available online here.