Judge Strikes Down Gag Order

On September 29, U.S. District judge Victor Marrero struck down a statute—enacted in 1986 and amended several times, including in Section 505 of the USA PATRIOT Act—that authorizes the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to issue National Security Letters (NSL) to order production of records as long as the FBI certifies that those records are relevant to a terrorism or counterterrorism investigation. As with Section 215 of the act, which covers business records (including library data), those ordered to produce records are gagged from discussing it.

"This is another indication that the courts are saying parts of the Patriot Act have gone too far," said Emily Sheketoff, executive director of the American Library Association's (ALA) Washington Office. The law might apply to some libraries, since they serve as "electronic service providers" if they offer public access to the Internet. Because the government is expected to appeal, the judge stayed enforcement of his decision for 90 days. Noted ALA's Washington Office in a statement, "[B]ecause of the cloak of secrecy that has shrouded the NSL process, it is impossible to know whether NSLs have been served in libraries and, if so, how often or in what circumstances this has occurred."