Vermont Guardian | September 28 2005
BRIDGEPORT, CT — In August, a Connecticut library organization was served with a national security letter demanding sensitive information about patrons, including borrowed materials and Internet use. And since the USA PATRIOT Act says that anyone who receives such a letter is prohibited from ever telling anyone about the demand, this organization is known only as John Doe.
Nevertheless, Doe decided to challenge the secret letter in court, and on Sept. 9 U.S. District Court Judge Janet Hall said the gag order violates the First Amendment. "John Doe" has a First Amendment right to engage in the "current and lively debate in this country over the renewal of the PATRIOT Act," she ruled. An appeal by the government is expected.
According to a column in the Hartford Courant by Christine Bradley, director of the Connecticut Library Consortium, librarians are “concerned about the disastrous effect of the PATRIOT Act on their professional responsibility to protect the privacy of patrons.” Debate over its re-authorization is underway in Congress.
The act authorizes federal officials to examine patron records and belongings, even if they aren’t investigating a particular person; it allows the FBI to demand records without prior judicial review; and makes no distinction between library records and other business records.
Ann Beeson, ACLU associate legal director and lead attorney in the case, said “the court has recognized that gagging our client from participating in the PATRIOT Act debate violates the First Amendment and is profoundly undemocratic. Today's ruling makes clear that the government cannot silence innocent Americans simply by invoking national security."
In 2003, former Attorney General John Ashcroft publicly characterized librarians' concerns that the PATRIOT Act could be used to target library records as "baseless hysteria."
Bradley predicts that “these brave Connecticut Yankees will show lawmakers that the way to be a patriot is to protect civil liberties. Librarians, booksellers and others are concerned about the Fourth Amendment's guarantee against unreasonable search and seizure, and the First Amendment's guarantee of freedom of speech.”
UE envoy: U.S. is “almost biblical” but not ignorant
BRUSSELS — The European Union’s ambassador to the United States has made a list of what he terms the “surprises” he has noticed here since starting his job 10 months ago. At the top of John Bruton’s list are an "almost biblical" focus on good and evil and a Congress dominated by local interests rather than ideologies, the Irish Times reports.
On the other hand, he chastised Europeans for tending to think that people in the United States have little knowledge of Europe. "Many have a very deep knowledge of Europe,” he said, adding that he has seen “a major transformation in the U.S. towards the EU" since the beginning of this year.
Many people in the United States see good and evil in all scenarios because they have the "confidence that they can see the difference" between the two,” noted Bruton, who is also a former Irish premier. Europeans, by contrast, feel much more relativist.
He added that the extraordinary degree of political partisanship "can be paralyzing," contrasting that with Europe, where he says it is conceivable that your political opponent today can be your ally tomorrow.
BRIDGEPORT, CT — In August, a Connecticut library organization was served with a national security letter demanding sensitive information about patrons, including borrowed materials and Internet use. And since the USA PATRIOT Act says that anyone who receives such a letter is prohibited from ever telling anyone about the demand, this organization is known only as John Doe.
Nevertheless, Doe decided to challenge the secret letter in court, and on Sept. 9 U.S. District Court Judge Janet Hall said the gag order violates the First Amendment. "John Doe" has a First Amendment right to engage in the "current and lively debate in this country over the renewal of the PATRIOT Act," she ruled. An appeal by the government is expected.
According to a column in the Hartford Courant by Christine Bradley, director of the Connecticut Library Consortium, librarians are “concerned about the disastrous effect of the PATRIOT Act on their professional responsibility to protect the privacy of patrons.” Debate over its re-authorization is underway in Congress.
The act authorizes federal officials to examine patron records and belongings, even if they aren’t investigating a particular person; it allows the FBI to demand records without prior judicial review; and makes no distinction between library records and other business records.
Ann Beeson, ACLU associate legal director and lead attorney in the case, said “the court has recognized that gagging our client from participating in the PATRIOT Act debate violates the First Amendment and is profoundly undemocratic. Today's ruling makes clear that the government cannot silence innocent Americans simply by invoking national security."
In 2003, former Attorney General John Ashcroft publicly characterized librarians' concerns that the PATRIOT Act could be used to target library records as "baseless hysteria."
Bradley predicts that “these brave Connecticut Yankees will show lawmakers that the way to be a patriot is to protect civil liberties. Librarians, booksellers and others are concerned about the Fourth Amendment's guarantee against unreasonable search and seizure, and the First Amendment's guarantee of freedom of speech.”
UE envoy: U.S. is “almost biblical” but not ignorant
BRUSSELS — The European Union’s ambassador to the United States has made a list of what he terms the “surprises” he has noticed here since starting his job 10 months ago. At the top of John Bruton’s list are an "almost biblical" focus on good and evil and a Congress dominated by local interests rather than ideologies, the Irish Times reports.
On the other hand, he chastised Europeans for tending to think that people in the United States have little knowledge of Europe. "Many have a very deep knowledge of Europe,” he said, adding that he has seen “a major transformation in the U.S. towards the EU" since the beginning of this year.
Many people in the United States see good and evil in all scenarios because they have the "confidence that they can see the difference" between the two,” noted Bruton, who is also a former Irish premier. Europeans, by contrast, feel much more relativist.
He added that the extraordinary degree of political partisanship "can be paralyzing," contrasting that with Europe, where he says it is conceivable that your political opponent today can be your ally tomorrow.