Book Companion:
What Every Librarian Should Know about Electronic Privacy
Jeanette Woodward
The Patriot Act
Judge Invalidates Patriot Act Provisions: FBI Is Told to Halt Warrantless Tactic
By Dan Eggen, Washington Post , September 7, 2007; Page A01
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/06/AR2007090601438.html
A federal judge struck down controversial portions of the USA Patriot Act in a ruling that declared them unconstitutional yesterday, ordering the FBI to stop its wide use of a warrantless tactic for obtaining e-mail and telephone data from private companies for counterterrorism investigations. . .
Wide Net Cast in Terrorism Inquiries
Washington Post, September 8, 2007; 7:31 PM
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/08/AR2007090801487.html
WASHINGTON -- FBI demands to telecommunications companies went beyond requesting phone records of customers under suspicion to include analyses of their broader patterns of communication with others as well, newly obtained documents show. . .
Patriot Act Balancing Act:
A ruling on gag orders in terrorism investigations falls short.
Washington Post, September 12, 2007; Page A18
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/11/AR2007091101973.html
IT'S ALWAYS difficult to find the right balance between a citizen's right to be free from undue government intrusion and a government's duty to protect national security. U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero of the Southern District of New York, in his 103-page decision on national security letters (NSLs) last week, wasn't entirely successful. . .
National Security Letters Act Introduced
American Libraries, August 6, 2007
http://www.ala.org/ala/alonline/currentnews/newsarchive/2007/august2007/nslact.cfm
Designed to counter Justice Department abuse of National Security Letters (NSLs) as reported in an internal FBI audit in March, the National Security Letters Reform Act of 2007 (H.R. 3189) was introduced July 26 by a bipartisan group that included Reps. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), William Delahunt (D-Md.), and Ron Paul (R-Tex.). . .