Patriot Act Protests Heat Up

Calls to rescind parts of the antiterrorism law build nationwide

By Debra Lau Whelan -- School Library Journal, 3/1/2004

Criticism against the USA Patriot Act is building as cities from coast to coast approve resolutions to rescind parts of the antiterrorism law. Even organizations such as the American Library Association and the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression have turned up the heat by launching petition drives urging Congress to specifically amend Section 215 of the law, which gives FBI agents the authority to view library and bookstore records. (To download a petition form, visit www.ala.org/ala/oif/ifissues/issuesrelatedlinks/alapetition.pdf.)

Most recently, the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California and the California Library Association have joined the fray, asking voters to tell their representatives to support the Security and Freedom Ensured Act. The amendment, introduced last year by Senators Larry Craig (R-ID) and Richard Durbin (D-IL), seeks to limit the use of surveillance and the issuance of search warrants. Rep. Butch Otter (R-ID) has introduced a companion bill in the House.

Needless to say, Attorney General John Ashcroft isn't happy about the anti–Patriot Act movement. In a four-page letter to congressional leaders on January 28, Ashcroft said scaling back the law would "make it more difficult to mount an effective anti-terror campaign than it was before the Patriot Act was passed" 45 days after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.

But the attorney general's comments didn't seem to deter anyone. "We don't support anything about him," says Emily Sheketoff, executive director of ALA's Washington office, adding that the state legislatures of Hawaii, Alaska, Vermont, and New York have passed resolutions opposing the provisions of the Patriot Act. "They passed an anti-Patriot Act resolution in the city where the World Trade Center attack took place," Sheketoff adds.