For 13 months, the federal government sought the identity of anyone who signed on to a certain computer at a certain Connecticut public library during a 45-minute time frame on Feb. 15, 2005.
Now the FBI is apparently no longer interested in that information.
The American Civil Liberties Union announced Monday that it had received notice that the federal government was abandoning its quest for those computer records.
The Justice Department had previously gone to federal court in Connecticut and New York, filing about a half-dozen documents arguing that the information was essential to an anti-terrorism investigation.
It also gagged four Connecticut librarians for nearly a year, barring them from disclosing that they had received a national security letter, a formal demand seeking the records.
In September, Judge Janet C. Hall ruled in their favor, charging that the gag order violated the librarians’ First Amendment right to free speech. However, the order remained intact while the Justice Department appealed.
“They wanted to keep us gagged while Congress debated renewing the Patriot Act, Christian said.
Congress renewed the Patriot Act in March, without the librarians’ input. A month later the FBI announced it would no longer enforce the gag order. Christian said he does not believe the timing was coincidental. “That frustrates me and it really disappoints me that the Justice Department would play politics this way,” he said.
Using the FBI as part of your political agenda is nothing new, of course. One of these days, you might hope that the Constitution and the Bill of Rights might overrule politicians and the conspiracy of the willing.
If I recall, didn’t Attorney General Gonzales, or maybe it was Homeland Insecurity Secretary Chertoff, claim that the FBI had never asked a library to turn over their records? Anyone remember this. I think it was when the Senate was holding hearings on the Patriot Act renewal.
That’s now become one of those — “I don’t remember saying that” items. At the time, he probably thought the gag order was sufficient.
Instead, the librarians went to an attorney — and he figured the gag order didn’t apply to him.
Chuckle.
Why’d they drop the demand? Probably because they broke in and got the info themselves. These librarians are determined to let terrorists be anonymous. They won’t even hand over the identity of users at a very specific time?
When it was published in 1948, George Orwell’s book, 1984,
http://www.online-literature.com/orwell/1984/
only missed it my 16 or so years.
Allen McDonald, El Galloviejo®
OMG! They found my porn!!!
Through the end of March, the Justice Department had received 35 subpoenas under that portion of the Patriot Act, Gonzales said. Those subpoenas were for access to records and other items, but none dealt with library, bookstore, medical or gun store records, he said.
Instead, he said, the requests dealt with information regarding driver’s licenses, public accommodations, credit cards and phone calls.
Mueller said his agents have obtained library records through “discreet inquiry” without having to invoke the Patriot Act.
http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/04/05/patriot.act/
Ok, it was a little longer ago then I remembered. However, it still is within the time frame mentioned. The initial act occurred on Feb. 15. 2005, while Gonzales and Mueller testified before the Senate on April 06, 2005.
3. “These librarians are determined to let terrorists be anonymous.”
no, these librarians are determined to let their patrons be anonymous, absent a constitutional order from a court.
back in the bad ol’ days, there were things called “writs of assistance,” which permitted free-ranging searches without probable cause. The officials who executed them were British colonial officials, and the targets of the searches were Americans.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Writs_of_Assistance
that that is part of the reason we have a Fourth Amendment, to outlaw such practices. these ‘national security letters’ are just the modern variant. actually, these are worse – a writ of assistance came with no gag order.
>>Probably because they broke in and got the info themselves.
Probably. That would be about par for the course for Dumbya’s administration. If The People won’t just roll over and give them what they want, then fuck the Constitution, they’ll just take it anyway.
The “user” probabl turned out to be a fourth-grader writing a Social Studies paper. At least if they know who it is, they can illegally wiretap his home. Maybe he’s planning some pool-hopping, or other similar crime against humanity.
I don’t see why a court order is needed. Police can get credit card records pretty easily, as well as telephone records. They don’t need a warrant for those things. However, these libraries would like to decide for themselves that they are not going to hand over such information? They would probably be thrown in jail, except the FBI doesn’t want it to be revealed that they can track down such usage.
AB CD, the police still need a warrant to access credit card and telephone records. I don’t think anyone here has a problem with that part. In order to get a warrant, there are restrictions that apply, and with good reason. What has most people upset is that on the FBI’s say so, the library has to hand over the information and the library is forbidden to say anything about it.
Doug pointed out a brief history of why judicial warrants are included in the Bill of Rights. Maybe you too could do yourself a favor and get a couple of books on American history and read up a little. Remember, today you support Bush, but tomorrow it could be you they are locking up without access to a lawyer.
oh brother, if g.w. said that not jumping off a bridge was the same as giving aid and comfort to the enemy, then every republican in this nation would head to their nearest span and plunge to their … heeeeey now there’s an idea!
mwa ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! JUST KIDDING you can trust every word ever spoken and every action ever taken by the republican party leadership, they would never, ever do anything bad or say anything dishonest ever, HONEST!!
>it could be you they are locking up without access to a lawyer.
It could be. That doesn’t make it wrong. They can currently arrest you just for not wearing a seat belt. There are all sorts of things that could happen. That doesn’t mean you take all power away to fight a war which is exactly what this is, no matter much you would like to ignore that fact. Getting warrants and other things are for routine criminal matters. Having to put everyone in court means you have to reveal all the methods used to acquire evidence and apprehend people, which then makes things even harder.
Note to AB CD, referencing comment 12. John Locke had an answer
for that. “The use of extraordinary power in extraordinary times, soon becomes the ordinary use of power in ordinary times.” It’s not just about a war. It’s about what kind of country we want to live in after the war. I’m not prepared to agree to this country becoming a police state just because some FBI agent is curious about what other people read.
You right-wingers are really a bunch of dunderheaded illiterate fools.
Yes, fools. If not fools than liars. You preach small government and the dignity of the individual, yet you are despicable small-minded thought police.
You sicken me.
My thoughts are my own, and the method and material I use to feed my mind is my business, not the government’s. What I read is nobody else’s business. The only reason libraries even keep track is because you are taking their books out of the building.
Freedom of speech and the written word is written into the founding documents of this country. To even presume to challenge that freedom is either the deepest idiocy or the most craven cowardice.
#14, Smartalix, I was picturing your grin as I was reading that post. Sorry for laughing at you. But hey, I was laughing at you, not what you were saying. What you were saying was serious. Your grin was funny. Good post.
http://www.dvorak.org/blog/?p=5946#comments
(good pictures)