More Information
On the Patriot Act

Con
• ACLU General Information
• ACLU Section 215 Information

The fight to amend the Patriot Act specifically involves issues that should interest all book readers. These new bills are aimed at restoring the privacy of our library and bookstore records to pre-Patriot Act levels.

Feel free to do your own research starting with the links supplied in this newsletter. Here's a brief summary of the issues.

Summary of the Patriot Act
As the title implies, the Patriot Act was created with the intent to give law enforcement, mainly the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation), CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) and NSA (National Security Agency), more powers to investigate terrorism in the United States. Many of the old laws regarding investigatory powers were "streamlined" to remove barriers that might slow or hinder the search for terrorists. In the fearful days following September 11th, Congress approved the Bush Administration's version of the Patriot Act with no amendments, and very little review and debate. The climate at that time did not permit much dissension since that was "aiding the terrorists." Now that enough time has passed, many people in Congress are reevaluating the wisdom of parts to the Patriot Act.

Section 215
One of the parts of the Patriot Act most often criticized is section 215. In brief, section 215 of the Patriot Act expands the government's ability to look at records on an individual's activity held by third parties such as libraries, bookstores, doctors, universities, and Internet service providers.

Summarized from statements on the ACLU website
•	The FBI does not have to show a reasonable suspicion that the records are related to criminal activity, much less the requirement for "probable cause" that is listed in the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution. The government only needs to assert that the request is related to an ongoing terrorism or foreign intelligence investigation.
•	The government must only certify to a judge - with no need for evidence or proof - that such a search meets the statute's broad criteria, and the judge does not even have the authority to reject the application.
•	Surveillance orders can be based in part on a person's First Amendment activities, such as the books they read, the websites they visit, or a letter to the editor they have written.
•	A person or organization forced to turn over records is prohibited from disclosing the search to anyone. As a result, the subjects of surveillance never find out that their personal records have been examined by the government and thus have no chance to challenge illegitimate searches.

The danger of section 215 is that, with very little oversight, the government can arbitrarily define who can be investigated. On top of that, government has fewer barriers to conduct "fishing expeditions" among our private records. Innocent readers could be caught in wide investigatory nets for merely reading the wrong materials.

Section 213
Section 213 better known as the "sneak and peek" provision of the Patriot Act, allows delayed notification of the execution of search warrants. It authorizes no-knock searches of private residences, either physically or electronically. Section 213 permits federal agents to obtain warrants under a low evidentiary standard, making them easier to get than before the Patriot Act was passed. Sneak and peek warrants allow agents to search homes, confiscate certain types of property, and bug computers, for an indeterminate amount of time, without notifying the subject of the search that it is happening.

Otter Amendment
The Otter amendment is a rider amendment to the House of Representatives' Commerce, Justice and State appropriations bill. The Otter amendment would bar federal law enforcement from implementing "sneak and peek."

H.R. 1157 - The Freedom to Read Protection Act
Authored by Representative Bernie Sanders (I - VT)
S. 1158 - the senate version of H.R. 1157
This legislation will exempt libraries and bookstores from Section 215 of the U.S.A. Patriot Act, and will require far greater government accountability than at present. It will require that the government provide detailed reports to Congress so that it can keep track of how governmental agencies are using their newly expanded powers.

S. 1507 - Library, Bookseller, and Personal Records Privacy Act
Authored by Russ Feingold
Similar to S. 1158 and H.R. 1157, but also extends the exemption to some personal records.

S. 1709
During the writing of this article a new Senate bill was introduced called the Craig-Durbin "Safety and Freedom Ensured" (SAFE) Act. It appears to combine elements of the Otter amendment and S. 1507 (The Library, Bookseller, and Personal Records Privacy Act). The authors may try to attach S. 1709 to the senate version of the Commerce, Justice and State appropriations bill or some other veto proof bill.