Free Expression

On Tuesday, October 14, the Supreme Court agreed to again hear a case to determine whether a law that looks to protect children from online pornography is constitutional. The bill, the Child Online Protection Act (COPA), signed into law in 1998, makes it a crime for any commercial Web site to distribute to a minor material considered to be "harmful to minors." It will be the second time in two years that the Supreme Court will hear the case.

In this op-ed piece, which appeared in the October 8 edition of the Boston Globe, Frank Kramer, owner of the Harvard Bookstore in Cambridge, Massachusetts, discusses the inherent dangers in the broad powers granted the FBI under Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act.

Why the Patriot Act worries booksellers

At press time, it was expected that on Thursday, October 2, Senators Larry Craig (R-ID) and Richard Durbin (D-IL) would introduce the Security and Freedom Ensured Act (SAFE) of 2003 in the Senate. The legislation would amend parts of the USA Patriot Act, including Section 215, which gives law enforcement officials broad authority to demand that libraries or bookstores turn over books, records, papers, and documents.

Banned Books Week, observed this year from September 22 - 27, resonated profoundly with booksellers and others concerned about our civil liberties.

In response to strong criticism from the American Library Association (ALA) for derisive remarks he made about ALA and other critics of the USA Patriot Act during a September 15 speech to restaurateurs, Attorney General John Ashcroft informed ALA President Carla Hayden by phone on Wednesday, September 17, that he would declassify data showing how often the Justice Department has sought the records of libraries, bookstores, and other businesses under Section 215 of the Patriot Act.

In a week where librarians and Attorney General John Ashcroft battled over the controversial USA Patriot Act, and a Baldwin, Kansas, school district superintendent made news by pulling an award-winning book from a ninth-grade class, it seems only fitting that Banned Books Week kicks off this Saturday, September 20. Running through September 27, Banned Books Week is the national celebration of the First Amendment, and independent bookstores and others are doing their part to help commemorate the event.

Citing his pioneering work to protect libraries and their patrons from the sweeping new powers given to federal agents by Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act, the Library Journal has named Rep. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) its 2003 "Politician of the Year." The Congressman was nominated by librarians from his home state and across the country and is featured on the cover of the magazine's September 15 issue.

On Tuesday, September 9, an estimated 1,200 to 2,000 people gathered outside Boston's Faneuil Hall to voice their concerns about the USA Patriot Act. The gathering was in response to Attorney General John Ashcroft's stop in Boston during his nationwide tour to drum up support for the controversial act, which allows delayed notification of the execution of search warrants and authorizes no-knock searches of private residences, either physically or electronically.

As booksellers ready to celebrate Banned Books Week, which begins on September 20, some are putting money where their love of reading is, by sponsoring fundraisers for the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE).

On August 27, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York affirmed a Vermont federal district court decision holding a Vermont Internet law unconstitutional under both the First Amendment and the federal Commerce Clause. The law, which prohibited the distribution on the Internet of non-obscene sexually explicit materials that are defined as "harmful to minors" if they could be accessed by persons under 18, was found by the Court of Appeals to burden speech protected by the First Amendment and to not be narrowly tailored.

In a move that many believe was sparked by the overwhelming House vote to withhold funding for "sneak and peek" searches of private property under the USA Patriot Act, Attorney General John Ashcroft embarked on a nationwide tour last week to drum up support for the controversial bill. "I think it [the vote to limit sneak and peak searches] caught the Justice Department by surprise, as it did all of us," said Chris Finan, president of the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE).

This fall, a documentary on the well-publicized court case in which Denver's Tattered Cover Book Store fought to protect its customers' right to privacy will be shown on regional PBS stations and will be part of a free expression panel that will be held at three of the fall regional trade shows. The Just Media Fund, an organization that helps develop media that focuses on social justice issues, produced the 27-minute film, Reading Your Rights.