ABFFE UPDATE

November 3, 2009 Previously in ABFFE Update Volume 11, Number 8

ABFFE Welcomes House Bill Restoring Reader Privacy Protections

The action on re-authorizing expiring provisions of the Patriot Act moves this week to the House of Representatives where the Judiciary Committee is scheduled to consider a bill on Wednesday introduced by Chair John Conyers (D-MI) and committee members Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) and Bobby Scott (D-VA). The Senate Judiciary Committee has already approved a bill that provides important protections for reader privacy in libraries. But the Senate bill does not extend these protections to bookstores. The House bill, the USA Patriot Amendments Act of 2009 (H.R. 3845), exempts both bookstores and libraries from Section 215, which authorizes secrets searches of the records of anyone who is "relevant" to a national security investigation, including people who are not suspected of criminal acts.

ABFFE welcomed the introduction of H.R. 3845 and a statement by Congressman Nadler about the purpose of the bill. "The bill would allow Americans to use libraries and bookstores without fear that their choice of books will be monitored by overzealous federal agents," Nadler said.

The Campaign for Reader Privacy, representing booksellers, librarians, publishers and writers, is asking supporters to urge their House members to co-sponsor H.R. 3845. Contact information is available through the House Web site, www.house.gov.

Free Speech Group Pleased by Supreme Court Argument

Oral argument in the U.S. Supreme Court on October 6 left free speech advocates hopeful that the court will overturn a federal law that could send a bookseller to jail for five years for selling a depiction of animal abuse, including bullfighting. ABFFE had joined librarians, publishers and authors in filing an amicus brief in U.S. v Stevens, one of the most important free speech cases involving books in a generation. Justice Antonin Scalia was openly hostile to the statute, which the government attempted to defend as a narrow ban on the sale of so-called "crush" videos and images of dogfighting. Other justices joined Scalia in declaring that the language of the law is far broader and might even ban images of "stuffing geese for pâté de foie gras." Even lawyers who are normally cautious about predicting what the Supreme Court will do in a particular case are saying that it will uphold a decision by the Third Circuit Court of Appeals that struck down the law. Some are even predicting a unanimous decision.

 Kids' Right to Read Celebrates Two Victories

In Helena, Alabama, the Helena Middle School library will retain John Coy's Crackback, which was challenged in September by a parent who objected to drinking and steroid use by characters in the book. The Kids' Right to Read Project (KRRP) worked closely with Coy and school officials.

In Downingtown, Pennsylvania, school officials followed model procedure in denying a challenge to Laurie Halse Anderson's Twisted. When a parent demanded the removal of the book, KRRP sent this letter.

But the battle continues. On September 29 the Wyoming, Ohio School Board voted to back the superintendent's plan to re-evaluate every book that isn't a textbook that teachers recommend to their students. Staff members will now be asked to rate books based on four points, including the extent to which a book "could create controversy among students, parents and community groups." In response, KRRP sent this letter.

ABFFE Book of the Month: American Privacy: The 400-Year History of Our Most Contested Right

The ABFFE Book of the Month for November is American Privacy: The 400-Year History of Our Most Contested Right by Frederick S. Lane (Beacon Press), 978-0-80-704441-4. In American Privacy, Lane traces the origins of the right to privacy, from the Bill of Rights to the controversial 1960s Supreme Court cases that first formally recognized it, and lays bare the speed with which technological and social changes swamped all efforts to maintain that right.

To read ABFFE's interview with author Frederick S. Lane click here.

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.