ABFFE Helps Bookstores Protect Privacy Against Torricelli Subponeas
The federal government has agreed not to pursue the production of customer records
requested in subpoenas issued to three bookstores in connection with an investigation of
U.S. Senator Robert G. Torricelli of New Jersey, Chris Finan, president of the American
Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE), announced today. The government's
decision came after the bookstores said they would file a motion to quash the subpoenas on
First Amendment grounds. "It is a victory for customer privacy and First Amendment
rights," Finan said.
ABFFE agreed to assist the bookstores - Books & Books, Coral Gables, Florida, Olsson's
Books and Records, Washington, D.C., and Arundel Books, Los Angeles, CA - after they
received subpoenas seeking all records relating to purchases by Torricelli and seven other
people since January 1, 1995. Finan said that the subpoenas were extremely broad and would
have required the bookstores to turn over personal information about their customers,
including the titles of the books they had purchased, that would have a chilling effect on
the First Amendment rights of all bookstore customers.
At ABFFE's request, Daniel Mach, a lawyer in the Washington office of Jenner and Block,
notified the Justice Department that the bookstores intended to file a motion to quash the
subpoenas on First Amendment grounds. At that time, the Justice Department agreed not to
seek any title-specific information. The bookstores stated that it was not feasible to
produce the other information being sought by the government.
Finan said there has been an alarming increase in efforts by law enforcement authorities
to gain access to titles of works purchased by bookstore customers. The Torricelli case is
the fourth attempt in the last 16 months. Earlier this year, law enforcement officials in
Cleveland attempted to force Amazon.com to produce the purchase history of potentially
thousands of its customers in northeastern Ohio. In April 2000, four police officers
attempted to execute a search warrant at the Tattered Cover Book Store in Denver. Several
months later, a subpoena was issued to several Borders Books and Music Stores in the
Kansas City area.
The Borders' subpoena was quashed on First Amendment grounds and the search warrant issued
to the Tattered Cover was narrowed by a judge for the same reason. (The judge ordered
Tattered Cover to turn over some of the information sought by the police, but the store
has appealed to the Colorado Supreme Court.) The search warrant issued in the Amazon.com
case was never executed, and the related investigation has been closed.
ABFFE has been leading the fight to protect customer privacy in bookstores since 1998 when
it helped Kramerbooks, a Washington bookstore, protect the privacy of White House intern
Monica Lewinsky's records from a subpoena by Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr.
Previously in ABFFE Update
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