Portsmouth Herald

PORTSMOUTH—A local bookstore owner is hoping that a national petition drive will encourage lawmakers to amend a section of the USA Patriot Act that allows the FBI to view the buying and borrowing histories of customers.

The Campaign for Reader Privacy, launched by the American Booksellers Association, the American Library Association and the writer’s group PEN American Center, is seeking 1 million signatures in support of amending the federal law, which many store owners say is a violation of privacy.

Petitions have been sent out to various libraries and bookstores across the United States asking for the signatures of customers who would support such an amendment.

RiverRun Bookstore owner Tom Holbrook has signed on to the campaign by providing customers access to the petition, which he downloaded from the Web site of the Campaign for Reader Privacy and put on display at his Commercial Alley shop. Holbrook said he encourages customers to visit the Web site at www.readerprivacy.org for additional information.

The petition, titled “USA Patriot Act vs. Your F-READ-om,” asks members of Congress to “support legislation that amends Section 215 of the Patriot Act to restore the privacy of our bookstore and library records.”

Holbrook, who has had the petition in his store for the past two days, said he has already gotten a handful of signatures.

“Most people didn’t know the Patriot Act allowed the government to do this, so you get a lot of surprised reactions,” he said.

Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act, which was passed in October 2001, allows the FBI to view private records after obtaining an authorization from a special federal court known as the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. In such cases, librarians and store owners would be forbidden to inform customers of the inspection.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice’s Web site dedicated to the Patriot Act – Preserving Life and Liberty, at www.lifeandliberty.gov – this court can issue such authorizations only after the “government demonstrates the records concerned are sought for an authorized investigation to obtain foreign intelligence information not concerning a U.S. person or to protect against international terrorism or clandestine intelligence activities.”

Holbrook said that he and other local booksellers are not seeking to repeal the entire Patriot Act, they are only attempting to amend the sections they believe infringe on citizens’ basic rights.

“We wish to restrict the ability of the FBI to walk in and obtain records without (giving) a reason why,” he said.

According to the organizers of the petition drive, what has caused the public outcry against Section 215 is the fact that law enforcement officials do not have to show probable cause to search the buying records of bookstore customers.

Holbrook said additional confusion exists because regulations drawn up to implement the act have not been made public by the Department of Justice.

Only recently has the government declassified any reports on Section 215, according to an article filed by the American Library Association on Sept. 18, 2003.

U.S. Justice Department spokesman Mark Corallo was quoted by the Boston Globe as saying “a careful reading of Section 215 makes clear that the only people who have anything to worry about are terrorists and foreign spies.”

Holbrook responded that he is “against anything that infringes upon First Amendment rights. Whether they believe it does or not, it’s not their decision to make.”

A statement released earlier this week by the book industry – with the support of 40 major organizations including Barnes & Noble Booksellers, Borders Group Inc., Ingram Book Group, and Random House, Simon & Schuster and Holtzbrinck publishers – pledges support for two bills currently in Congress: the Freedom to Read Protection Act (H.R. 1157) and the Security and Freedom Ensured (SAFE) Act (S. 1709). According to the American Booksellers Association, the statement – which can be found at http://news.bookweb.org – represents 90 percent of retail book sellers in the United States.

“The best way to show your dissatisfaction is to vote, so I’m hoping that (in November) things change,” said Holbrook.

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