Librarians Helped Gain Nationwide Attention

News and Opinion for Democrats Against Bush -- Part II

Librarians Helped Gain Nationwide Attention

"The USA PATRIOT Act, passed just 45 days after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, flew under the nation's radar for months before complaints from librarians brought the question of security versus privacy to the forefront of national debate."

The Star (Chicago) - Top Stories from our 20 editions

Privacy vs. security

Many librarians bristle at notion of giving patrons' records to federal agents

Sunday, January 18, 2004

By Glen Leyden The Star

The complete article is currently (4/5/04) available on the Star Newspapers website at-- http://www.starnewspapers.com/star/spnews/all/18-af9.htm [found by author's name through the website's search function on the date above]

Excerpt--

When Congress approved expansion of the government's authority to investigate citizens believed to be tied to terrorism, it may not have realized it meant taking on a tough opponent: local librarians.

The USA PATRIOT Act, passed just 45 days after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, flew under the nation's radar for months before complaints from librarians brought the question of security versus privacy to the forefront of national debate.

Librarians are most alarmed by the section of the law that gives investigators the authority to check private records, including library records, without probable cause.

Civil rights advocates protested the act from its inception, maintaining it violates rights protected in the Constitution. But the complaints did not gain nationwide attention until librarians joined the fight.

"You learn two things when you are in grade school: Never split an infinitive and never mess with the librarian," said ACLU spokesman Ed Yohnka. "This never really got on track until the librarians got involved." ...

Glen Leyden may be reached at (708) 633-6973 or via e-mail at gleyden@starnewspapers.com

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FAIR USE NOTICE

This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.