At a hearing in Washington yesterday, the Justice Department agreed to respond by January 15 to the Freedom of Information Act request filed by the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, ACLU, the Electronic Privacy Information Center, and the Freedom to Read Foundation. Among other things, the plaintiffs want to know how many subpoenas have been issued to bookstores and libraries under the U.S.A. Patriot Act. Under Section 215, the FBI has acquired vastly expanded authority to obtain the records of anyone who may possess information relating to a foreign intelligence investigation, including lists of the titles of books they have purchased or borrowed. (For more information about the lawsuit, go to the ABFFE Web site.

Yesterday's hearing was requested by the plaintiffs because the government had refused to say when it would reply to the FOIA request. U.S. District Court Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle said she did not believe the government was dragging its feet in responding to the request. However, she agreed with the plaintiffs that issue at the heart of the case is "a matter of great public interest."

The fact that the Justice Department has agreed to meet the January 15 deadline does not mean it is going to give the plaintiffs the information they are seeking. The government can refuse to turn over information that is exempt under the Freedom of Information Act, including material affecting national security.

However, the plaintiffs are not seeking details of any of the subpoenas that may have been issued under Section 215. They only want to know how many there have been. They will argue that releasing the number of subpoenas does not jeopardize national security.

Judge Huvelle will hold a hearing in February to decide whether the government's claims of exemption are valid.

Attorneys for the plaintiffs said they are pleased by the early deadline for the government's response. FOIA cases often drag on for many months before the government replies.

Daniel Ellsberg will speak in New York on December 10 as part of a program sponsored by ABFFE, the National Coalition Against Censorship, the Free Expression Network and the Arthur Garfield Hays Civil Liberties Program at New York University Law School. The program, "Government Secrecy and the First Amendment," will also feature John R. (Rick) MacArthur, the publisher of Harper's Magazine and the author of "Second Front: Censorship and Propaganda in the Gulf War." Ellsberg, the man at the center of the landmark Pentagon Papers case, is the author of a new book, "Secrets: A Memoir of Vietnam and the Pentagon Papers."

The program will be held at 5:30 p.m. in the New York University Law School's Greeberg Lounge, 40 Washington Square South. The public is invited. Please RSVP to pvalencia@ncac.org.