{"id":7220,"date":"2004-10-07T09:37:18","date_gmt":"2004-10-07T16:37:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/2004\/10\/07\/making-book.html"},"modified":"2004-10-07T09:37:18","modified_gmt":"2004-10-07T16:37:18","slug":"making_book","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2004\/10\/07\/making_book.html","title":{"rendered":"Making book"},"content":{"rendered":"

A small library in Washington State faced down (for the moment) the FBI regarding circulation of a book.<\/p>\n

At the center of the issue, a book titled “Bin Laden: The Man Who Declared War on America.”<\/p>\n

The FBI confiscated the original book after a patron reported than some one hand wrote a bin Laden quote in the margin that read: “Let history be witness I am a criminal.”<\/p>\n

The FBI demanded to know the names and addresses of everyone who ever checked out the book.<\/p>\n

The library declined, the FBI got a grand jury subpoena, the library moved to quash the subpoena, and the FBI backed down … for the moment.<\/p>\n

On the one hand, the library has a very good point:<\/p>\n

“Libraries are a haven where people should be able to seek whatever information they want to pursue without any threat of government intervention,” said Director of Whatcom County Library System, Joan Airoldi.<\/p>\n

Because of privacy policies, the library does not give out circulation records without a court order. When the FBI got a grand jury subpoena, the library filed a motion to quash it — citing the rights of all people who use the library. “Like the right to read and to read the material of one’s choice without fear that someone will come around with questions about why you chose that book,” said [library attorney] Garrett.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, the FBI’s request was not an out-of-the-blue “Hey, let’s see who’s drawing moustaches on pictures of Dubya so we can ship them down to Gitmo.” One can imagine, for example, a Horrible Terrorist Act being traced back to an unconnected dot of an OBL follower who’d written the above quote in the above book and how the FBI failed to follow up (cue congresscritters pounding their shoes on the table).<\/p>\n

Of course, there are any number of ways that quote could have gotten there (e.g., a patron just sitting in the library), and the quote itself isn’t necessarily indicative of a terrorist plot. <\/p>\n

Which raises the issue of whether the library would have been more cooperative had someone scribbled, for example, “For the glory of Osama we will kill thousands next November!” in the margin. To what extent is this a matter of fundamental principle, and to what extent is it a matter of the library<\/em> not agreeing that the information is worthwhile pursuing. If, for example, the FBI was aware of a terrorist cell in the area, would their trying to confirm that this book had been checked out by one of them be a worthy endeavor in the eyes of Airoldi and Garrett? If it’s an ongoing investigation, should they have to reveal that (hypothetically) classified (or perhaps even libelous, if it turns out to be false) info to the head of the local library?<\/p>\n

I dunno.<\/p>\n

(via J-Walk<\/a>)<\/small><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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Trump admin hits reset in FBI director search The team tasked by the White\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":31434,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2012\/11\/20\/thank-goodness-the-feds-wont-need-pesky-search-warrants-any-more.html","url_meta":{"origin":7220,"position":4},"title":"Thank goodness the feds won't need pesky search warrants any more!","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 20-Nov-12 11:09am","format":false,"excerpt":"I mean, clearly we've been living in a lawless Wild West full of terrorist bombings and drug lord shootings while those pokey old judges have been taking long vacations and otherwise sitting on urgently needed search warrants!Surely the dozen or so federal agencies covered here -- everyone from the FBI\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":133503,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2017\/05\/17\/on-the-ten-year-term-of-the-fbi-director.html","url_meta":{"origin":7220,"position":5},"title":"On the Ten Year Term of the FBI Director","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 17-May-17 10:51pm","format":false,"excerpt":"What's the history behind the statutory 10 year single term granted to the Director of the FBI? 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