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USA PATRIOT Act
According to the US Dept Of Justice The USA PATRIOT Act was enacted by Congress by overwhelming, bipartisan margins, arming law enforcement with new tools to detect and prevent terrorism.
The ALA has been highly critical of the law, calling it a threat to intellectual freedom.
The Freedom to Read Protection Act (H.R. 1157) was sponsored by Rep. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) in the 108th Congress. The bill summary claims that the bill seeks "to amend the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to exempt bookstores and libraries from orders requiring the production of any tangible things for certain foreign intelligence investigations, and for other purposes". This legislation has received support from many booksellers' groups and the American Library Association, according to a press release from the Free Expression Network. The bill's progress can be monitored on THOMAS.
The USA-PATRIOT Act requires reauthorization, and the reauthorization bill (sponsored by Rep. Sensenbrenner (R-WI)) has also been referred to committees for consideration.
The Congressional Research Service re-issued a report for Congresspeople on libraries and the USA-PATRIOT Act in July of 2005.
External Links[edit]
- American Library Association, Resources on the USA PATRIOT Act and Intellectual Freedom
- Electronic Privacy Information Center, Resources on the PATRIOT Act
- Minnow, Mary, "The USA PATRIOT Act and Patron Privacy on Library Internet Terminals". LLRX, February 15, 2002
- Open Directory Project category
- Phillips, Heather A., "Libraries and National Security Law: An Examination of the USA Patriot Act". Progressive Librarian, Vol. 25, Summer 2005
