Sneak and Peek
Aug 25th, 2005 at 6:35 pm by Susie
I’m sure they had some good reasons. I don’t know about you, but I trust the government implicitly:
NEW YORK – The American Civil Liberties Union today disclosed that the FBI has used a controversial Patriot Act power to demand records from an organization that possesses “a wide array of sensitive information about library patrons, including information about the reading materials borrowed by library patrons and about Internet usage by library patrons.� The FBI demand was disclosed in a new lawsuit filed in Connecticut, which remains under a heavy FBI gag order.
The ACLU is seeking an emergency court order to lift the gag so that its client can participate in the public debate about the Patriot Act as Congress prepares to reauthorize or amend it in September.
“Our client wants to tell the American public about the dangers of allowing the FBI to demand library records without court approval,� said ACLU Associate Legal Director Ann Beeson, the lead lawyer in the case. “If our client could speak, he could explain why Congress should adopt additional safeguards that would limit Patriot Act powers.�
I just put up a letter on my site that I received from Rick Santorum in response to a July phone call about the Patriot Act. In it, he writes:
“Notably, at no time has the FBI used its authority to request records from libraries or bookstores.”
Liar!