LISNews: Librarian News

Congress edged closer yesterday to limiting some of the sweeping surveillance and search powers it granted to the federal government under the USA Patriot Act in 2001, including a provision that would allow judicial oversight of a central tool of the FBI's counterterrorism efforts, according to Senate and House aides. More From The Washington Post.

The New York Times has coverage of a panel of federal judges in Manhattan who raised questions yesterday about secrecy provisions in the nation's antiterrorist act, expressing concerns that the act indefinitely silences those swept up in investigations.The judges did not immediately rule on the matter. But by their questions, the judges seemed skeptical of arguments by a Justice Department lawyer who said it was within constitutional limits for the government to prevent recipients of such requests from ever speaking about them.

"The troubling aspect from my standpoint is it's without limit," Senior Judge Richard J. Cardamone said while questioning the government's lead lawyer, Douglas Letter, about the nondisclosure provision in what is known as the USA Patriot Act. "There's no end to how long you have to keep this secret."

The Associated Press reports Some of the nation's most powerful business groups are splitting with the Bush administration over whether to restrict the anti-terror USA Patriot Act.

The business groups complained to Congress on Wednesday that the Patriot Act makes it too easy for the government to get confidential business records. That put them at odds with one of President Bush's top priorities — the unfettered extension of the law passed after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Here's a commentary from a mom who, while in theory likes that her local library takes patron privacy seriously, feels a bit put out by not being able to find out what her minor-aged sons have checked out.

as much as I'm not a big believer in the ''it takes a village'' approach to raising children, I think I'd welcome the well-timed call from my local librarian should he or she deem something on my son's check-out record a little ... curious. Like if one of my kids were checking out his 19th book about fertilizer, pipes and detonating devices in the last three weeks. Is that an ''extenuating circumstance?''

More from Mcall.com. (Allentown, PA)