AAP on the Hill / Issues: First Amendment

March 26, 2003

Freedom to Read Protection Act Would Safeguard Library and Bookstore Records

At a press conference on March 6, Congressman Bernie Sanders (I-VT) announced the introduction of the Freedom to Read Protection Act, H.R.1157. The bill would exempt libraries and booksellers from provisions of the USA Patriot Act which allow the federal government to access library and bookstore records without the need to get a traditional search warrant. Law enforcement authorities would still be able to obtain these records, but under a higher standard of judicial oversight. The bill, which has 32 co-sponsors including three Republicans and the Ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, would exempt libraries and bookstores from Section 215 of the Patriot Act which currently allows the FBI to search bookstore and library records with a search warrant obtained from a secret court without even the need to show probable cause of criminal activity or the individual’s connection to a foreign power. “Even more frightening,” Congressman Sanders pointed out in his press release, “the FBI can investigate American citizens based in part on an American’s exercise of his or her First Amendment rights, such as writing a letter to the editor of a newspaper or reading books the government may not approve of.” The bill would also mandate semi-annual reports from the Justice Department about the total number of all orders made and granted under Section 215. From the outset, AAP has been deeply concerned about infringements of basic First Amendment rights under the Patriot Act, and was among the first organizations to help raise awareness of these concerns in an AAP Freedom to Read Committee White Paper issued last spring. There is no companion bill in the Senate yet, but the issue is getting good editorial support from newspapers all over the country, including the Los Angeles Times, the Detroit Free Press and the Providence Journal-Bulletin. H.R.1157 came into being as a result of a grassroots movement among Vermont’s librarians and booksellers who wrote and petitioned their Congressional delegation asking for remedial legislation. AAP is part of a task force developing strategies to move the legislation along in the House and to get a companion bill moving in the Senate.

For more information contact:

Judith Platt
Email: jplatt@publishers.org