Obama Administration Aims To Continue USA PATRIOT Act Provisions
Justice Department officials says there may be room for negotiation
Norman Oder -- Library Journal, 9/16/2009
- Concerns addressed in letter to Senator Leahy
- Justice Department says library records not abused
- Library groups begin to respond
- Senators plan their own bill
Over the objections of the American Library Association (ALA) and groups representing booksellers, publishers, and writers, the Obama Administration has announced support for the renewal of the USA PATRIOT Act. In April, the allied groups asked Congress to exempt library and bookstore records from the provisions of Section 215 of the Act, and in July the ALA Council passed a resolution reiterating the objection.
However, even as Senators Russ Feingold (D-WI) and Dick Durbin (D-IL) indicate they will pursue reforms to the Patriot Act as it approaches sunset in December, the administration plans to maintain current law.
Library records
In a letter to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leah (D-VT), Assistant Attorney General Ronald Weich apparently tried to preempt concerns about the impact of the Patriot Act on library records:
It is noteworthy that no recipient of a FISA [Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act] business records order has ever challenged the validity of the order, despite the availability, since 2006, of a clear statutory mechanism to do so. At the time of the USA PATRIOT Act, there was concern that the FBI would exploit the broad scope of the business records authority to collect sensitive personal information on constitutionally protected activities, such as the use of public libraries. This simply has not occurred, even in the environment of heightened terrorist threat activity. The oversight provided by Congress since 2001 and the specific oversight provisions added to the statute in 2006 have helped to ensure that the authority is being used as intended.But the Campaign for Reader Privacy, which includes ALA, points to at least three “significant and disturbing attempts to obtain records from libraries since 2003.”
Room for negotiation
Weich left some room for negotiation. While the Office of the Director of National Intelligence concurs with the Justice Department's views, he noted that "[w]e also are aware that Members of Congress may propose modifications to provide additional protection for the privacy of law abiding Americans.... Therefore, the Administration is willing to consider such ideas, provided that they do not undermine the effectiveness of these important authorities."
Lynne Bradley, director of ALA's Office of Government Relations, took heart in the administration's openness to discussion.
"We're glad to see the public debate is about to begin again," she told LJ, indicating a need to "have a comprehensive discussion" on how law enforcement tools fit together while ensuring that "we don't needlessly weaken our civil liberties."
"We understand many of the points made in the Justice Department's letter and in the public debate we think other perspectives will come out on how to find balance," she added.
Reaction from state library groups
On Tuesday, the Executive Board of the Vermont Library Association (VLA) unanimously adopted a Resolution on the 2009 Reauthorization of the USA Patriot Act. Unlike the ALA Council resolution, VLA also addresses expanded use of National Security Letters (NSLs), which were used against the "John Does" of the Library Connection in Connecticut and later withdrawn.
On the ALA Council electronic mailing list, Vermont chapter councilor Nancy Wilson encouraged colleagues to adopt/modify the resolution and take action at the state level.
Contact the author: noder@reedbusiness.com
