ALA Hails Judge's Decision on National Security Letter Gag Order

Norman Oder -- Library Journal, 09/08/2007

The American Library Association (ALA) applauded a decision by a federal judge in New York, who ruled that the gag order associated with National Security Letters (NSLs)—even though it was relaxed somewhat upon the revision last year of the USA PATRIOT Act—violates First Amendment guarantees of free speech. "The FBI’s serious and widespread abuse of NSLs has confirmed many of ALA’s concerns about the lack of oversight into the FBI’s surveillance activities," said ALA president-elect Jim Rettig in a news release. "This decision that the gag order is unconstitutional is a clear victory for those disturbed by the lack of judicial oversight in the NSL process."

Notably, in 2005, the Library Connection, a Windsor, CT corsortium, challenged an NSL presented by the Federal Bureau Investigation that requested library records. The FBI eventually dropped its effort to maintain the gag after U.S. District Judge Janet Hall ruled a perpetual gag invalid. The New York Times called the recent decision by Judge Victor Marrero a sequel to one he made in 2004 as well as Hall’s decision, both of which applied to an earlier version of the law. Last year, when Congress reauthorized the Patriot Act, it allowed disclosure of the gag unless the FBI certified that disclosures might harm national security, among other things—a fairly low threshold. Marrero ruled that recipients of NLS remain "effectively barred from engaging in any discussion regarding their experiences and opinions" regarding NSLs. The Department of Justice has not yet announced plans to appeal.