Ashcroft V. The Librarians Latest

After calling our concerns Hysteria and saying we’ve been Duped by those who are ideologically opposed to the Patriot Act, Ashcroft Now Says the FBI has not sought a single record from a library or business under a part of the Patriot Act widely criticized as opening Americans’ reading habits or personal information to undue government scrutiny.

After a Phone Call to Carla, he promised to declassify a report on how often the agency has sought information from public libraries under the USA Patriot Act.

Congressman Bernie Sanders Says who has authored legislation that would amend section 215 of the USA Patriot Act, welcomed reports today that Attorney General Ashcroft, after months of pressure from Congress and national civil liberty and privacy organizations, has agreed to disclose to the public how Section 215 has been used.

September 18, 2003 by Internet Librarians Libraries

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4 Responses

  1. John says:
    September 18, 2003 at 6:12 pm

    Also of note…
    During the discussion of this on DIG_REF a trolling comment gave the list the opportunity to discuss the responsibilities of being a librarian.

    While Ashcroft isn’t acting like Pol Pot, he certainly needs to be called on this type of posturing. Dictatorships and other oppressive regimes often get their start by attacking the truthseekers, while duping the rest. (See also Librarianship as a Revolutionary Choice). And considering how eerily this list describes the state of America and how the Bill of Rights is starting to look like the list of rules from Animal Farm, we can’t shrug off our professional responsibilities as inappropriate political activities.

  2. Anonymous Patron says:
    September 18, 2003 at 8:04 pm

    I can’t believe him
    Government, US govt is no different, has been known to lie and falsify information.

    Making it illegal for his opponents to say anything makes me doubt anything he says.

    — Ender, Duke_of_URL
    {

  3. Daniel says:
    September 19, 2003 at 12:34 am

    215 Never been used? Repeal Unneeded Law
    I’m glad to see that the FBI has not needed to invoke Section 215 even once since the passage of USA PATRIOT Act in October 2001.

    To me, this means that Atty Gen. Ashcroft should endorse the repeal of this section, since it has been of zero use. He could eliminate the potential of abuse of this section by future administrations.

    Has anyone seen news shedding light on whether we will get periodic reports on how Section 215 is being used? If this is a one time deal, then it isn’t much use. But it is better than being ridiculed for our concern.

  4. Anonymous Patron says:
    September 19, 2003 at 12:41 am

    Ashcroft’s text
    For those who are interested, here is a link to the text of the speech:

    http://www.usdoj.gov/ag/speeches/2003/091503nation alrestaurant.htm

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