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Senate Introduces NSL Reform ActThe U.S. Senate introduced the National Security Letter (NSL) Reform Act of 2007 September 25 in response to Justice Department abuses of NSLs uncovered by a March internal FBI audit. Introduced by Senators Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) and John Sununu (R-N.H.), the bill is a bipartisan effort like the House version (H.R. 3189) introduced July 26. “We all agree that going after suspected terrorists needs to be a top priority, but we shouldn’t violate the privacy of law-abiding Americans,” the senators stated. “Congress needs to put appropriate limits on these authorities—limits that allow the government to actively investigate suspected terrorists and spies while also protecting the privacy of innocent Americans.” Like the House bill, the Senate proposal would give an NSL recipient the ability to challenge the letter as well as its nondisclosure restriction, alert the recipient if the obtained records are used in later proceedings, and entitle the recipient to legal counsel as well as the ability to challenge the use of the records. The lack of such rights led to the lawsuit of the four librarians known as the Connecticut John Does. “ALA greatly supported Feingold’s office in the introduction of this legislation,” said Tara Olivero, assistant director of ALA’s Office of Government Relations. “The bill has some strong cosponsors, and our hope is that through these reform bills we can get some changes made to NSL applications including greater judicial review, more oversight, and recognition of higher First Amendment standards for libraries.” “To ensure that Americans’ privacy and free speech rights are always protected, there must be clear oversight and strict guidelines tied to the NSL power,” said Caroline Fredrickson, director the American Civil Liberties Union’s Washington Legislative Office. “When it comes to gagging our citizens, the burden must always lie with the state. Congress should pass this bill swiftly and reaffirm what the courts have already ruled.” Recently the ACLU scored a legal victory on behalf of an anonymous ISP when a federal judge ruled September 6 that the NSL provision of the USA Patriot Act was unconstitutional. “ALA has urged reforms to National Security Letters from the get-go,” said ALA President Loriene Roy. “Law enforcement is extremely important, but those efforts must be balanced against Americans’ right to privacy, in our case for their library and internet usage records.” Posted September 26, 2007. |
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