Patriot Act Still Under Fire
Act never enforced, but ALA renews call for amending the law
Debra Lau Whelan -- School Library Journal, 10/1/2003
ALA President Carla Hayden welcomed the September 18 admission by Attorney General John Ashcroft that the act had never been used but says, "We were surprised to learn that," since government officials had made it clear that libraries were a "logical target of surveillance" and that federal authorities had visited about 50 libraries.
The government had previously kept mum about the law's usage because the information was classified. The assumption now is that traditional law enforcement methods had been employed. "In any case, we hope members of Congress will restore the historic protections of library records," Hayden adds.
Earlier in the week, Ashcroft slammed ALA and other critics of the law, saying they were fueling "baseless hysteria" about the government's ability to examine library records. He later telephoned Hayden to say he would declassify information about the law, which was passed by Congress in the weeks following the September 11 terrorist attacks.
