LISNews: Librarian News

A good long look at PATRIOT from The San Mateo County Times. They ran a three-day series looking at the impact and controversy over the Patriot Act and its second revision that awaits President Bush's signature. :
Terror fight meets privacy concerns
Booksellers at fore of Patriot Act fights
A lot of myths tied to powers under the Act

An Anonymous Patron points to a An AP Piece that reports a federal prosecutor said Two of the Sept. 11 hijackers used a public-access computer at a New Jersey college library to buy tickets for the plane they seized and crashed into the Pentagon. Ken Wainstein, U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, made the disclosure Thursday during a congressional hearing in which the Bush administration pushed for renewal of provisions of the Patriot Act that make it easier for investigators to obtain library and other records.

The Grand Rapids Press Reports The City Council on Tuesday rejected a resolution expressing concern with sections of the federal Patriot Act.

The resolution was proposed by the city's Human Relations Commission and on put on the agenda Wednesday by Councilman David Hoekstra.

The council rejected the resolution 5-2, with only the 6th Ward councilman Hoekstra and Councilman At-Large Jerome Kobes voting in favor. Mayor Al McGeehan and 2nd Ward Victor Orozco were absent.

Fang-Face writes "An
ACLU news release posted at CommonDreams.org tells how papers, which were ordered unsealed by the judge in the case, include three affidavits and a legal brief. One of those affidavits was filed by a librarian who was "charged with educating the library community and general public about intellectual freedom." This lawsuit challenges the National Security Letter provision of USAPA, which authorizes the FBI to demand a range of personal records without court approval, including library records and the identify of people who have used library computers."