National Security Letters Act Introduced

Council passed a resolution on National Security Letters (NSLs) during Annual Conference in June. The Colorado Association of Libraries (CAL) Board voted to endorse the resolution on July 26th. Many other state organizations have done the same. I wanted to pass on some additional information that was highlighted in the latest weekly American Libraries Direct.

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-Mass.), and Ron Paul (R-Tex.).
The Justice Department’s handling of NSLs in libraries has been controversial, most notably in the case of the Connecticut “John Does”. The proposed legislation would give an NSL recipient the right to challenge the letter and its nondisclosure requirement, place a time limit on NSL gag orders, give notice to an NSL recipient if the records obtained are to be used in a subsequent proceeding, and grant an NSL recipient the right to legal counsel and to challenge the use of obtained records.
“We need to bring the NSL authority in line with the Constitution, enhance checks and balances, and, in doing so, better protect our national security,” Rep. Nadler said at the bill’s introduction.
“The American Library Association applauds Congress’s effort to reform National Security Letters to minimize this unconstitutional intrusion into library patrons’ records,” said Emily Sheketoff, executive director of the ALA Washington Office. “On June 27, ALA’s governing body unanimously passed a resolution condemning the use of NSLs to obtain library records.”
Nine days after the NSL bill was referred to several committees, Pres. Bush signed into law a revision to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that enables the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on foreign communications, including e-mail exchanges and phone calls between someone “reasonably believed to be outside the United States” and a person on U.S. soil, whether or not the latter is a U.S. citizen. The revision will be due for reconsideration in six months. “Congress needs to take its time before it implements another piece of antiterrorism legislation it will regret, like the Patriot Act,” Anthony D. Romero, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union, had cautioned in the August 1 New York Times. “The Bush administration clearly has abused the FISA powers it already has and clearly wants to go back to the good old days of warrantless wiretapping and domestic spying. Congress must stop this bill in its tracks.”