FBI drops campaign for library info — at one library


For 13 months, the federal government sought the identity of anyone who signed on to a certain computer at a certain Connecticut public library during a 45-minute time frame on Feb. 15, 2005.

Now the FBI is apparently no longer interested in that information.


For 13 months, the federal government sought the identity of anyone who signed on to a certain computer at a certain Connecticut public library during a 45-minute time frame on Feb. 15, 2005.

Now the FBI is apparently no longer interested in that information.

The American Civil Liberties Union announced Monday that it had received notice that the federal government was abandoning its quest for those computer records.

The Justice Department had previously gone to federal court in Connecticut and New York, filing about a half-dozen documents arguing that the information was essential to an anti-terrorism investigation.

It also gagged four Connecticut librarians for nearly a year, barring them from disclosing that they had received a national security letter, a formal demand seeking the records.

In September, Judge Janet C. Hall ruled in their favor, charging that the gag order violated the librarians’ First Amendment right to free speech. However, the order remained intact while the Justice Department appealed.

“They wanted to keep us gagged while Congress debated renewing the Patriot Act, Christian said.

Congress renewed the Patriot Act in March, without the librarians’ input. A month later the FBI announced it would no longer enforce the gag order. Christian said he does not believe the timing was coincidental. “That frustrates me and it really disappoints me that the Justice Department would play politics this way,” he said.

Using the FBI as part of your political agenda is nothing new, of course. One of these days, you might hope that the Constitution and the Bill of Rights might overrule politicians and the conspiracy of the willing.

Posted: Wed - June 28, 2006 at 12:46 PM