Patriot Act Reforms Gain Momentum

-- Publishers Weekly, 9/25/2009 12:38:00 PM

The Campaign for Reader Privacy issued a statement Friday praising new bills introduced in the Senate during the week that would add more privacy safeguards to the Patriot Act. Key provisions of the Patriot Act, including Section 215, will expire December 31 if they are not reauthorized by Congress.

The bill introduced by Sens. Russ Feingold and Richard Durbin would reauthorize the use of Section 215 orders to obtain business records but would tighten the standard to require that the records be connected to an individual suspected of terrorism or espionage, unlike the present statute that only requires that the records be relevant to an investigation. The bill also tightens requirements pertaining to issuing National Security Letters. A bill introduced by Sens. Pat Leahy, Ben Cardin and Ted Kaufman would reauthorize the use of Section 215 orders for four years and tighten the standard to require that records sought are relevant to an investigation and, at minimum, pertain to a suspected agent of a foreign power. The bill also tightens standards on the use of NSLs and would mandate more audits of how NSL are used. Past audits have uncovered abuses of NSLs.

The Campaign for Reader Privacy was organized in 2004 by the American Booksellers Association, the American Library Association, the Association of American Publishers, and PEN American Center to fight for changes in the Patriot Act to protect the confidentiality of reading records. “The legislative momentum provided by the December 31 sunset offers the perfect opportunity to put safeguards in place that will protect the basic First Amendment rights of law-abiding Americans,” said ABA CEO Oren Teicher. “We’re pleased to see that process underway and hope that booksellers, librarians, publishers and authors will make their voices heard by urging their own Senators to co-sponsor the bills.”