A lawyer for the Tattered Cover Book Store told the seven justices of the Colorado Supreme Court Wednesday that a bookstore should only be required to turn over information about a customer's purchases when the police have no other way of advancing a criminal investigation. Denver attorney Daniel Recht argued that if police searches of book purchase records become routine, people will stop buying the books they want and need. "If what we read today can result in a subpoena or a search warrant tomorrow, fear will replace freedom," Recht said.

Tattered Cover owner Joyce Meskis has appealed a judge's order that she identify the books that were in a Tattered Cover envelope sent to someone suspected of illegally manufacturing methamphetamine. She argues that the police did not exhaust the other means of obtaining the information they want before they obtained a warrant to search the Tattered Cover in April 2000. (After talking to Meskis and Recht, the police agreed to delay their search until the courts could rule on the issue.)

Police efforts to search bookstore records have grown dramatically since 1998 when Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr attempted to get a list of books purchased by Monica Lewinsky. Over the last 16 months, there have been four cases in which police obtained a subpoena or search warrant for bookstore records. Two federal courts have ruled that these records have limited First Amendment protection. The Tattered Cover case is the first case to reach a state supreme court. ABFFE has filed two amicus briefs on behalf of the Tattered Cover, each joined by over a dozen national organizations, including the Association of American Publishers, the American Library Association and PEN American Center.

Following the supreme court hearing Wednesday, Meskis said she was pleased by the way the oral argument had gone. The store's case had been fully presented to the court, she said. A decision is not expected until the spring.

On Nov. 30, the U.S. Supreme Court heard a challenge to the Children's Online Protection Act, a new effort by Congress to ban material that is "harmful to minors" from the World Wide Web. ABFFE, Powell's Books and A Different Light Bookstore are plaintiffs in an ACLU lawsuit that contends that it is impossible to bar "harmful" material without preventing adults from getting access to First Amendment-protected material. The Supreme Court overturned the last effort to restrict "indecent" material, the Communications Decency Act.

However, there are procedural problems that may prevent the court from making a decision about COPA's fate anytime soon. The lower court in the case ignored the arguments made by the plaintiffs and declared the law unconstitutional on different grounds. During the Supreme Court argument, several justices challenged the lower court's reasoning. They may return the case to the lower court and order a new decision based on the arguments the plaintiffs originally made. At that point, the case will probably return to the Supreme Court. In the interim, an injunction bars enforcement of the act.

As kids around the country eagerly awaited the opening of the film "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" in November, ABFFE announced the launch of a Web site dedicated to defending the free speech rights of kids, including the right to read the Harry Potter books. kidSPEAK! (www.kidspeakonline.org)is the successor to Muggles for Harry Potter, a Web site created last year when objections over the depiction of witchcraft in the Potter books led some public schools to restrict their use. kidSPEAK! is intended to serve primarily the middle school students who have rallied so strongly to the defense of the Harry Potter books, swelling the membership of Muggles for Harry Potter to over 18,000 in only a few months last year.

What do you give someone who has everything? Give them a front row seat in the fight for free speech by making them a member of ABFFE, the bookseller's voice in the fight against censorship. ABFFE is now offering introductory memberships for $15–a 70 per cent discount on the cost of an individual membership.

Open a world of information about First Amendment rights. Not everyone knows that more than over 600 books were challenged in the United States last year. As a member of ABFFE, your friend or colleague will receive the 2001 Banned Books Week kit and the new ABFFE "Burning Books" poster–a $46 value. ABFFE will also mail next year's Banned Books Week kit as soon as it is available.

By making someone a member of ABFFE, you also give the satisfaction that comes from belonging to a group that is fighting hard for bookstores like the Tattered Cover who are in trouble because of their defense of First Amendment rights. Introductory memberships are also a perfect way to introduce young booksellers to their important role in defending free speech.

In addition to the Banned Books Week kit and ABFFE poster, new members will receive ABFFE's handsome membership pin, an ABFFE mug, the ABFFE handbook, "Censorship and First Amendment Rights," and its pamphlets on bookstore privacy, obscenity and other timely issues. All ABFFE members receive ABFFE Update.

To give an introductory membership, go to the ABFFE Store on the ABFFE Web site, www.abffe.com, and click on "ABFFE Membership." You can also place on order by calling ABFFE at (212) 587-4025.