A federal appeals court has kept a gag—at least temporarily—on a Connecticut librarian who was ordered by the Federal Bureau of Investigation to turn over library records under a controversial provision of the USA Patriot Act. That provision also stipulates that all information about such FBI requests remain secret. The librarian, referred to as John Doe, wants to talk about his or her experiences as part of the debate about the legality of the Patriot Act.
A federal district judge had ruled last week that the librarian should be able to identify herself or himself, but kept the gag in place while the government appealed that decision. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit said today that the panel needed to see more evidence before ruling. A hearing on the matter is scheduled for next Tuesday before the appellate judges.
For more information last week’s ruling, see an article from The Chronicle, by Andrea L. Foster.
