Date: Wed, 21 Aug 2002 17:10:55 -0400
From: "Michael Walsh" <MJW at mail.press.jhu.edu>
To: <wsfalist at keithlynch.net>
Subject: [WSFA] Winston Smith's reading habits . . .
Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at keithlynch.net>

>From PW Daily for Booksellers 08/21/02

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True Patriots: Groups Back Effort to Uncover Bookstore Investigations

A group led by the American Booksellers Foundation for Free
Expression, the Association of American Publishers and the PEN
American Center has sent a letter of support to House Judiciary
Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner (R., Wis.) and Rep. John
Conyers (D., Mich.), the Committee's ranking Democrat, protesting the
Justice Department's refusal to reveal how many times it has taken
information from bookstores and libraries under the Patriot Act,
passed last October as an amendment to the existing Foreign
Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).

In June, the House Judiciary Committee sent a letter to the Justice
Department asking 50 questions about the use of t1he Act. On July 26,
Assistant Attorney General Daniel Bryant replied in a letter that the
requested information was confidential and would be turned over only
to the House Intelligence Committee. The House Judiciary Committee has
legal responsibility for overseeing the Patriot Act while the House
Intelligence Committee does not.

The Justice Department's refusal to turn over the information to the
House Judiciary Committee has raised the ire of Rep. Sensenbrenner,
who told the Wisconsin Journal Sentinel on Tuesday that he would
"start blowing a fuse" if the Justice Department didn't turn over the
information by Labor Day. Sensenbrenner threatened to issue a subpoena
to Attorney General John Ashcroft to force him to testify before the
Judiciary Committee.

The issue is of particular interest to booksellers. Section 215 of the
Patriot Act grants the FBI the ability to demand that any person or
business immediately turn over records of books purchased or borrowed
by anyone suspected of involvement with "international terrorism" or
"clandestine activities." The act includes a "gag order," preventing a
bookstore or library from discussing of the matter with anyone or
announcing the matter to the press. A bookstore may phone its attorney
at the time of the request, but it can be done only as an
afterthought, as the information must be supplied to the FBI
immediately, or the employee risks arrest.

Matt Miller, general manager of The Tattered Cover Bookstore in
Denver, Colo., told PW Daily that "theoretically it could happen in my
own store and I wouldn't hear about it. They could come in, talk to
another manager, issue a search warrant, that manager would give over
the information, and then wouldn't be able to talk about it."

Miller said he is concerned that if the Patriot Act is used
anonymously, it may eventually intimidate booksellers from stocking
controversial materials in their store. "The scary part of this is
that you really don't know what specific materials the FBI could be
concerned about or what association the police are making about what
people are buying and their activities," he said. "The logically
progression is whether those books can get published or even written."

Chris Finan, president of the American Booksellers Foundation for Free
Expression, told PW Daily, "We're all in the dark here because of the
gag provision as to how many subpoenas or court orders have been
issued. No one will tell you if there's a few or a thousand that have
been issued. It's likely to scare people to hear that the Justice
Department is fighting not to reveal the number." He added, "We're not
asking for details, we just want to know a number."

Though the government has not released any information, Finan said
he's heard of at least two libraries being approached for information,
but has not yet heard of a bookstore being approached.

"We've always wondered how it would actually happen," he said. "It
could be that an FBI agent would show up and insist to see a record
immediately, but we encourage the bookstore owner to ask that a lawyer
make sure the all the elements necessary for a court order are there."

ABFFE sent a letter to booksellers last October suggesting that should
the FBI approach them, they phone ABFFE, ask for help without
revealing why, and ABFFE will understand that as a code and put them
directly in touch with ABFFE's own attorneys.

Finan would like the Justice Department to have to meet a higher
standard of need before it could get a court order under FISA. In
non-terrorist cases, authorities have to show probable cause that a
crime has been committed before they can request a subpoena, but under
the Patriot Act, it's only necessary to show the information is
relevant to an investigation.

He says that ABFFE recognizes that some information may need to remain
secret, but it should be possible for someone in the Justice
Department to act as an ombudsman to raise objections and act on
behalf of those stores or libraries that the government wants to serve
with subpoenas.

Judy Platt, director of communications and public affairs of the AAP
and director of the association's Freedom to Read Program, recognizes
that the conflict between maintaining individual freedoms and the
government's desire to curtail them in the name of national security
is an ongoing problem. She told PW Daily, "This is a democracy. I
can't imagine anybody in this country being more upset about September
11 than those in the publishing community. The siren call of those who
say we'll keep you safe if you'll give up a little of your freedom is
as old as this republic. This is not new."

Nevertheless, Platt said she feels it's only reasonable for the
Justice Department and the administration to comply with the Judicial
Committee's request. "If you're going to allow the government to
infringe on constitutionally protected freedom, you've got to allow
Congress to look over their shoulder," she said.--Edward Nawotka