Free Expression

Banned Books Week, observed this year from September 22 - 27, resonated profoundly with booksellers and others concerned about our civil liberties.

In response to strong criticism from the American Library Association (ALA) for derisive remarks he made about ALA and other critics of the USA Patriot Act during a September 15 speech to restaurateurs, Attorney General John Ashcroft informed ALA President Carla Hayden by phone on Wednesday, September 17, that he would declassify data showing how often the Justice Department has sought the records of libraries, bookstores, and other businesses under Section 215 of the Patriot Act.

In a week where librarians and Attorney General John Ashcroft battled over the controversial USA Patriot Act, and a Baldwin, Kansas, school district superintendent made news by pulling an award-winning book from a ninth-grade class, it seems only fitting that Banned Books Week kicks off this Saturday, September 20. Running through September 27, Banned Books Week is the national celebration of the First Amendment, and independent bookstores and others are doing their part to help commemorate the event.

Citing his pioneering work to protect libraries and their patrons from the sweeping new powers given to federal agents by Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act, the Library Journal has named Rep. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) its 2003 "Politician of the Year." The Congressman was nominated by librarians from his home state and across the country and is featured on the cover of the magazine's September 15 issue.

On Tuesday, September 9, an estimated 1,200 to 2,000 people gathered outside Boston's Faneuil Hall to voice their concerns about the USA Patriot Act. The gathering was in response to Attorney General John Ashcroft's stop in Boston during his nationwide tour to drum up support for the controversial act, which allows delayed notification of the execution of search warrants and authorizes no-knock searches of private residences, either physically or electronically.

As booksellers ready to celebrate Banned Books Week, which begins on September 20, some are putting money where their love of reading is, by sponsoring fundraisers for the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE).

On August 27, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York affirmed a Vermont federal district court decision holding a Vermont Internet law unconstitutional under both the First Amendment and the federal Commerce Clause. The law, which prohibited the distribution on the Internet of non-obscene sexually explicit materials that are defined as "harmful to minors" if they could be accessed by persons under 18, was found by the Court of Appeals to burden speech protected by the First Amendment and to not be narrowly tailored.

In a move that many believe was sparked by the overwhelming House vote to withhold funding for "sneak and peek" searches of private property under the USA Patriot Act, Attorney General John Ashcroft embarked on a nationwide tour last week to drum up support for the controversial bill. "I think it [the vote to limit sneak and peak searches] caught the Justice Department by surprise, as it did all of us," said Chris Finan, president of the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE).

This fall, a documentary on the well-publicized court case in which Denver's Tattered Cover Book Store fought to protect its customers' right to privacy will be shown on regional PBS stations and will be part of a free expression panel that will be held at three of the fall regional trade shows. The Just Media Fund, an organization that helps develop media that focuses on social justice issues, produced the 27-minute film, Reading Your Rights.

Left to right: Panelists Zachary Marcus, Trina Magi, Rep. Bernie Sanders, Edward Morrow, and Ben Scotch.

On Sunday, August 17, Rep. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) sponsored a Congressional Town Meeting on the "USA Patriot Act and Our Civil Liberties," co-hosted by the Northshire Bookstore of Manchester Center, Vermont.

The following editorial appeared in the August 8 edition of the Los Angeles Times.

Barring the Book Snoops

In December, a St. Louis library user whispered that a Middle Eastern-looking man using the public computers seemed suspicious. The librarian called the FBI, but the man left before agents arrived. In an effort to identify him, the agents asked for and got a thick stack of papers listing everyone who had used the library's computers in the previous week.

The support for amending the USA Patriot Act continues to grow. On July 31, the same day that Sen. Russell D. Feingold (D-WI) introduced The Library, Bookseller, and Personal Records Privacy Act (S. 1507), Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) introduced the Protecting the Rights of Individuals Act (S.1552). Both bills would limit searches under the USA Patriot Act to the records of people who are foreign agents engaged in acts of espionage or terrorism.

The Freedom to Read Protection Act (H.R. 1157) continues to garner support within the House. All told, the bill, which is sponsored by Rep. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), now has 129 co-sponsors.