Murkowski Introduces Protecting the Rights of Individuals Act

The support for amending the USA Patriot Act continues to grow. On July 31, the same day that Sen. Russell D. Feingold (D-WI) introduced The Library, Bookseller, and Personal Records Privacy Act (S. 1507), Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) introduced the Protecting the Rights of Individuals Act (S.1552). Both bills would limit searches under the USA Patriot Act to the records of people who are foreign agents engaged in acts of espionage or terrorism.

The introduction of the two bills means that there are now three proposed bills in the Senate seeking to amend or to limit the powers of the controversial USA Patriot Act. In late May, Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) introduced the Library and Bookseller Protection Act (S. 1158), a bill that is similar to The Freedom to Read Protection Act (H.R. 1157), which was introduced by Rep. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) in March. In the House, 129 members have joined Sanders as co-sponsors of his bill. (For more on this topic, click here.)

The bottom line is that there seems to be growing support in Congress for limiting the power that was given to the Justice Department by Section 215 of the Patriot Act, said Chris Finan, president of the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE). "The significant thing about the Murkowski bill is that the Senate now has a broad selection of approaches to fixing 215," he told BTW. "Any members with serious concerns about 215 should be able to find a bill to support."

Under the Feingold bill, if the FBI has "specific and articulable facts" that show that the person it is targeting is a foreign agent, it may seek a search order from the secret FISA court. The Murkowski bill creates an additional hurdle for the FBI by requiring facts that establish "probable cause" for believing the target is a foreign agent.

Sanders' Freedom to Read Protection Act and Boxer's bill would further limit the FBI's power. Under the proposed legislation, the government would have to seek an order through regular court channels, giving a bookseller or librarian the opportunity to object on First Amendment grounds; it would have to show "probable cause"; and booksellers and librarians would be free to report the receipt of subpoenas for customer records. (To see a previous article on both the Feingold and Murkowski bills, click here.)