Free Expression

To help booksellers respond to last week's historic tie vote in the U.S. House of Representatives on the Freedom to Read Amendment to the Commerce, Justice, State (CJS) Appropriations Bill, ABA has prepared template letters that can be adapted by booksellers to send to their representative based on his or her vote on the measure. The sample letters are posted online and can be accessed by clicking here.

On Monday, July 12, Rep. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) held a press conference at the Fletcher Free Library in Burlington, Vermont, to announce that he would continue his efforts to get Congress to pass an amendment of Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act to protect the privacy of bookstore and library patrons' records. Congressmen Sanders, addressing a crowd of approximately 50 reporters, librarians, and booksellers, said, "I have no doubt that we are going to win this fight, and when we do it, we're going to strike a tremendous blow for the U.S.

On Thursday, July 8, the Freedom to Read Amendment to the Commerce, Justice, State (CJS) Appropriations Bill, died in a tie vote -- 210 - 210 -- in the U.S. House of Representatives. The amendment had been introduced by Rep. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and would have barred the Justice Department from using any of the money appropriated under the CJS bill to search bookstore and library records under Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act.

According to this year's annual State of the First Amendment survey, conducted by the First Amendment Center in collaboration with American Journalism Review magazine, although deeply shaken by the terrorist attacks of 9/11/2001, Americans' support for their First Amendment freedoms has bounced back to pre-9/11 levels. The survey, conducted by the Center for Survey Research & Analysis at the University of Connecticut, includes 1,000 respondents contacted by telephone between May 6 and June 6, 2004.

On Tuesday, June 29, the Supreme Court, by a 5-4 vote, upheld a lower court ruling barring enforcement of the Child Online Protection Act (COPA) and remanded the case back to District Court. A broad group of plaintiffs -- including the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE), A Different Light Bookstore in San Francisco and West Hollywood, City Lights in San Francisco, and Powell's Books in Portland, Oregon -- hailed the decision as a victory for the First Amendment.

A recent unanimous U.S. Supreme Court decision -- in a case in which chain store Christal's challenged a Littleton adult-business licensing ordinance on the grounds that it violated the retailer's First Amendment rights by not allowing for prompt judicial review -- ruled in favor of the city ordinance. And, while the judges' decision confirmed that First Amendment cases required a prompt review and ruling, they noted that accelerated procedures with two-to-three day time limits do not apply to city ordinance licensing.

The American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression's (ABFFE) online auction will close Friday, June 18, at 5:00 p.m., Eastern Standard Time.

The American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE) has launched an online auction featuring many unique items from BookExpo America (BEA), including posters autographed by bestselling authors and hundreds of new autographed books. Like the three-day Silent Auction that ABFFE runs during BEA, the online auction offers bargains on the latest books, book sidelines and services, and a wide variety of entertainment items, ranging from DVDs and video games to airline tickets and hotel stays.