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Ashcroft Caves to Librarians’ Demands


— September 17, 2003

Attorney General John Ashcroft is moving to declassify information about how many requests law enforcement officials have made for library, business and other records under the Patriot Act, Justice Department sources said Wednesday.

Ashcroft telephoned American Library Association President Carla Hayden to inform her of the decision. The association has been at the forefront of opposition to Section 215 of the Patriot Act, which allows FBI counterterrorism agents to obtain secret court orders requiring libraries to produce records.

After the call, the librarians declared victory in their yearlong battle to force disclosure of the records. . . .

[T]he American Civil Liberties Union said Ashcroft did not go far enough.

“This is a small step. Many more are necessary,” said Laura Murphy, director of the ACLU’s Washington national office. “Let’s be clear. Whether they’ve snooped around in 16 libraries or 1,600, having that power without meaningful judiciary oversight is still wrong in America.

I also don’t think Mr. Asshat should have the ability to decide whether to comply or not comply with the librarians’ Freedom of Information Act requests. Who gave him discretion to determine whether or not the law applies? CNN has the story here.

UPDATE: It turns out that the government “has never actually used a controversial provision of the USA Patriot Act that allows it to seek records from libraries, bookstores or other businesses, according to a confidential memo from Attorney General John D. Ashcroft,” the Washington Post reports here. That’s nice, but it doesn’t fix the problem, which is that the government still could. It’s kind of like saying, “Why do you keep complaining that the barrel of my gun is in your mouth? I haven’t pulled the trigger, have I?” (via Dean’s World)

2nd UPDATE: Now it turns out that Ashcroft may have been “mistaken” when he claimed the provision had never been used. See “GOP Lawmaker Refutes Ashcroft on Libraries


Attorney General John Ashcroft is moving to declassify information about how many requests law enforcement officials have made for library, business and other records under the Patriot Act, Justice Department sources said Wednesday.

Ashcroft telephoned American Library Association President Carla Hayden to inform her of the decision. The association has been at the forefront of opposition to Section 215 of the Patriot Act, which allows FBI counterterrorism agents to obtain secret court orders requiring libraries to produce records.

After the call, the librarians declared victory in their yearlong battle to force disclosure of the records. . . .

[T]he American Civil Liberties Union said Ashcroft did not go far enough.

“This is a small step. Many more are necessary,” said Laura Murphy, director of the ACLU’s Washington national office. “Let’s be clear. Whether they’ve snooped around in 16 libraries or 1,600, having that power without meaningful judiciary oversight is still wrong in America.

I also don’t think Mr. Asshat should have the ability to decide whether to comply or not comply with the librarians’ Freedom of Information Act requests. Who gave him discretion to determine whether or not the law applies? CNN has the story here.

UPDATE: It turns out that the government “has never actually used a controversial provision of the USA Patriot Act that allows it to seek records from libraries, bookstores or other businesses, according to a confidential memo from Attorney General John D. Ashcroft,” the Washington Post reports here. That’s nice, but it doesn’t fix the problem, which is that the government still could. It’s kind of like saying, “Why do you keep complaining that the barrel of my gun is in your mouth? I haven’t pulled the trigger, have I?” (via Dean’s World)

2nd UPDATE: Now it turns out that Ashcroft may have been “mistaken” when he claimed the provision had never been used. See “GOP Lawmaker Refutes Ashcroft on Libraries

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