USA PATRIOT Act study results
The results are in for ALA-OITP's study on the USA PATRIOT Act and libraries:
U.S. law enforcement officials have made at least 200 formal and informal inquiries to libraries for information on reading material and other internal matters since October 2001, according to a study that adds grist to the growing debate in the U.S. Congress over the government's counterterrorism powers.In some cases, agents used subpoenas or other formal demands to obtain information like lists of users checking out a book on Osama bin Laden. Other requests were informal and were sometimes turned down by librarians who chafed at the notion of turning over such material, said the American Library Association, which commissioned the study.
The association, which is pushing to scale back the government's powers to gain information from libraries, said its $300,000 study was the first to examine a question that was central to a House of Representatives vote last week on the USA Patriot Act: how frequently federal, state and local agents are demanding records from libraries.
More details about the survey and its results should be available at the ALA Washington Office Breakout Session I at Annual on Saturday, June 25, 10:30 A.M. - 12:00 P.M. at the Sheraton Chicago Room: Chicago BR VIII-X.