Pulling FBI's Nose Out of Your Books

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

Pulling FBI's Nose Out of Your Books
By Bernie Sanders
Los Angeles Times

Thursday 08 May 2003

An unnecessary chill has descended on the nation's libraries and bookstores:
The books you buy and read are now subject to government inspection and
review.

After 9/11, the Bush administration, particularly Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft,
pushed hard for passage of the Patriot Act, which contained sweeping changes
to our nation's surveillance laws and new intelligence powers for the FBI
and other agencies. At that time of national outrage, Congress passed with
little debate a bill the attorney general had crafted.

Few who voted for the Patriot Act ‹ I did not ‹ knew that among its
provisions was one that gave FBI agents the authority to engage in fishing
expeditions to see what Americans read. Although it does not mention
bookstores or libraries specifically, the sweeping legislation gives the FBI
the power to seize all of the circulation, purchasing and other records of
library users and bookstore customers on no stronger a claim than an FBI
official's statement that they are part of a terrorism investigation. Surely
the powers the government needs to fight terrorism can be subject to more
meaningful checks and balances than that, especially when the right to read
without government intrusion is at stake.

Until the Patriot Act, the FBI had the authority to obtain bank records,
credit records and certain other commercial records only upon some showing
that the records requested related to a suspected member of a terrorist
group. The Patriot Act expanded the FBI's authority in two ways. First, it
gave the FBI the authority to seize any records of any entity. Most members
of Congress probably didn't realize it, but this included libraries and
bookstores. Second, Congress dropped the prior requirement that the FBI
actually have some evidence that the person whose records it sought was a
member of a terrorist group or otherwise involved in terrorism.

Now, one Patriot Act provision allows the FBI to obtain whole databases,
including records of citizens not suspected of any wrongdoing. The FBI has a
history of abusing its power: monitoring, keeping records on and
infiltrating civil rights organizations, Vietnam War protest groups and
others that had broken no laws but were considered controversial. Little has
changed to prevent the FBI from abusing its powers again if it is left
unchecked. The new powers appear to have been used already ‹ a University of
Illinois survey shows libraries were targeted at least 175 times in the year
after 9/11 ‹ yet the FBI refuses to explain how or why.

Such is the state of affairs that librarians in California and across the
country are putting up signs warning patrons that the FBI may be snooping
among their records. These librarians, along with booksellers, are
particularly concerned because the proceeding for these warrants takes place
in a closed court and the new law has a built-in gag order: Those who are
asked to turn over records are not allowed to say that the search has
occurred or that records were given to the government. In addition, under
this provision the courts are no longer an arbiter of individual rights
because judges are not allowed to determine whether there is probable cause
to justify such sweeping searches.

We need law enforcement to track terrorists down before they do their evil
deeds. But if we give up some of our most cherished freedoms ‹ the right to
read what we want without surveillance; the need for "probable cause" before
searches are made ‹ the terrorists win, for their attacks will have struck
at the very heart of our constitutional rights.

To remedy the excesses of the Patriot Act that threaten our right to read, I
have introduced the Freedom to Read Protection Act. The bill, which has the
support of Democrats and Republicans, progressives and conservatives, will
establish once again that libraries and bookstores are no place for fishing
expeditions. Because this new legislation will allow the FBI to use the
constitutional routes at its disposal, including criminal subpoenas, to get
library and bookstore records, it will not tie the hands of investigators.
At the same time it will require ‹ as had always been the case ‹ that
investigations be focused and that the reasons behind them be subject to
judicial scrutiny.

Before Congress begins any discussion of new powers for the FBI, as some in
Washington are advocating, we must first focus on correcting the unchecked
authority the Patriot Act already grants the government.

U.S. Rep. Bernie Sanders represents Vermont as an independent.

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