Free Expression

On Tuesday, February 17, organizations representing booksellers, librarians, and writers announced the official launch of the "Campaign for Reader Privacy (CRP)," a nationwide grassroots effort to restore the safeguards for the privacy of bookstore and library records that were eliminated by Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act.

On January 29, Chief Judge J. Gavan Murtha of the U.S. District Court in Brattleboro, Vermont, issued a judgment and order that permanently enjoined a Vermont Internet law that would have prohibited the distribution on the Internet of non-obscene sexually explicit materials that are defined as "harmful to minors" if these materials could be accessed by persons under 18. The plaintiffs had claimed that the law violated constitutionally protected free speech rights and the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution.

Since early January -- when ABA launched a petition campaign to gather signatures of bookstore customers who support amending Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act -- booksellers have been actively collecting signatures toward an ABA-member goal of garnering at least one million signatures. ABA is now urging booksellers who have yet to join the petition campaign to do so, and is also strongly encouraging those booksellers who are participating in the campaign and are sending back signed petition lists to keep collecting signatures.

This week, the Colorado House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly in favor of H.B. 1078, a bill that would make it illegal to allow a minor access to any material considered "harmful to minors." The bill has members of the Mountains & Plains Booksellers Association (MPBA) up in arms because, MPBA contends, the bill is vague, would be impossible to uphold, and could place severe restrictions on the availability of constitutionally protected materials.

Michigan Agrees Not to Enforce Minors' Access Law Until Hearing

Last week, Michigan's Solicitor General, Thomas Casey, came to an agreement with a coalition of booksellers, publishers, magazine distributors, and free expression groups not to enforce a minors' access law until a hearing on the coalition's request for a preliminary injunction. In exchange, the plaintiffs will not ask for an expedited schedule.

Booksellers who wish to participate in the campaign to gather more than one million customer signatures on a petition calling for Congressional support of legislation to amend Section 215 of the Patriot Act are reminded that the petition is available in an easily downloadable PDF format on BookWeb.org. The petition, which was sent to bookstores with Book Sense in the February White Box mailing, may also be downloaded by clicking here.

The following editorial appeared in the January 12, 2004, edition of Colorado's Rocky Mountain News.

Amend Patriot Act to Protect Libraries

In early January, ABA launched a petition campaign to gather signatures of bookstore customers who support amending Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act, which stripped away protections for customer privacy. The goal is to garner at least one million signatures.

"We are very pleased by the enthusiastic response that has greeted the launch of our petition campaign," said ABA COO Oren Teicher. "We hope all members of ABA will seriously consider participating."

On Tuesday, January 6, six independent booksellers, the Great Lakes Booksellers Association (GLBA), and the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE) joined publishers and magazine distributors in filing a lawsuit to challenge the constitutionality of a new Michigan law that makes it illegal to allow a minor access to any material that is "harmful to minors."

While booksellers and librarians have taken a leading, and crucial, role in efforts to restore the protections for customer privacy that were eliminated by the USA Patriot Act, ABA now wants bookstores to call on customers to lend a hand to the cause, too -- literally.

The American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE) is urging booksellers to add their store names to the growing list of those endorsing the Book and Library Community Statement Supporting The Freedom to Read Protection Act (H.R. 1157); The Library and Bookseller Protection Act (S. 1158); and The Library, Bookseller, and Personal Data Privacy Act (S. 1507).

On Monday, December 8, a federal judge in District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas in Little Rock said he needed answers before he could rule on whether amendments to an Arkansas statute that restrict the "display" of material that is "harmful to minors," among other things, violates the First Amendment, as reported by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. In June 2003, the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE), Arkansas' That Bookstore in Blytheville, the American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas, and others challe

The American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE) is asking all ABA bookstore members to add their store names to the list of 84 bookstores from across the country that have already endorsed the Book and Library Community Statement Supporting The Freedom to Read Protection Act (H.R. 1157); The Library and Bookseller Protection Act (S. 1158); and The Library, Bookseller, and Personal Data Privacy Act (S. 1507).