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September 01, 2005, 03:59 PM ET
Plea of the Unknown Librarian
A federal judge today allowed the release of more documents, though heavily blacked out, in the first known case in which an institution has been ordered by the Federal Bureau of Investigation to turn over library records using a controversial provision of the USA Patriot Act. One of the documents is an affidavit from the librarian involved in the case. The library official said that he or she did not previously know that the FBI could use a tool authorized under the Patriot Act, called a national-security letter, to request library information, and that the official wanted to be able to educate other librarians about the issue. The American Civil Liberties Union, which is representing the unknown institution in the case, put the documents on its Web site. Lawyers for the Justice Department have argued that allowing the name of the library to be revealed will irreparably harm a counterterrorism investigation that it is conducting.
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