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September 06, 2007, 02:41 PM ET
National-Security Letters Ruled Unconstitutional
Count it as a win for academic librarians. A federal district judge today declared that national-security letters are unconstitutional. The controversial orders require businesses and organizations, possibly including libraries, to hand over to the FBI — without a judge’s approval — their electronic financial, subscriber, and other records. Recipients are barred from discussing the orders with anyone but their lawyers.
Academic-library groups, joined by the American Civil Liberties Union, have been fighting the idea in the courts and in Congress ever since the letters’ scope was expanded under the USA Patriot Act, the anti-terrorism law that took effect in 2001. In March lawmakers said they had revised the act, in part, to exclude libraries from receiving national-security letters, but library groups said they would still be able to receive the orders.
Judge Victor Marrero, of the U.S. District Court in Manhattan, ruled unconstitutional both the gag on recipients of the orders and their lack of judicial scrutiny. It was his second decision striking down national-security letters. Three years ago, he ruled that the orders violated the First Amendment. But an appeals court asked him to reconsider the decision after the Patriot Act was revised this year.
It is unclear if the U.S. Justice Department, which has been arguing in favor of national-security letters, will appeal the ruling.—Andrea L. Foster
Categories: Libraries
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