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http://www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/news/print.asp?id=8640
Librarians Win Battle Again Ashcroft's Edict To Censor Statute Documents
Richard Brenneman, Berkeley Daily Planet, Page 1, 8/10/2004
Following howls of protest from libraries across the nation, U.S.
Attorney General John Ashcroft has rescinded a controversial order
demanding that libraries destroy copies of a federal statute and
accompanying regulations and documents.
The mandate in question was sent to libraries designated by Washington
as official depositories, where federal statutes, regulations and other
documents are routinely shipped in order to make them available to the
general public.
"You don't want to mess with the public documents librarians. They are
the pit bulls of democracy," said Patricia Ianuzzi, director of the
Moffitt and Doe Libraries at UC Berkeley - the latter a designated
federal depository.
Ianuzzi said she had never heard of the feds trying to recall copies of
legislation enacted by Congress, as Ashcroft attempted to do with the
Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform Act, which had been shipped off to
depositories four years ago.
"I can only assume that the person who issued the order didn't know what
they were doing," she said.
The other documents on the recall list, sent to librarians on July 20 by
federal Superintendent of Documents Judith C. Russell, included Civil
and Criminal Forfeiture Procedure, Select Criminal Forfeiture Forms,
Select Federal Asset Forfeiture Statutes, and Asset Forfeiture and Money
Laundering Resource Directory.
The reason for Russell's action? "The Department of Justice has
determined that these materials are for internal use only," she wrote.
Under federal law, Russell is obliged to withdraw publications when
requested by the agencies which had initially issued them, according to
an article posted on LISNews.com, the website of Librarian & Information
Science News.
Michael Gorman, president-elect of the American Library Association
(ALA), blasted the Justice Department move.
"The topics addressed in the named documents include information on how
citizens can retrieve items that may have been confiscated by the
government during an investigation," he wrote in an official statement
issued on July 30.
On learning of the mandatory withdrawal, the ALA filed a Freedom o[f]
Information Act request for the documents to force Ashcroft's agency
into issuing a statement on the "unusual action."
David Dodd, an executive with the San Francisco Public Library and chair
of the California Library Association's Intellectual Freedom Committee,
said "the major effect on libraries by Mr. Ashcroft has been a raised
awareness of potential threats to personal privacy, primarily via the
portions of the PATRIOT Act (section 215 in particular) that give broad
and unprecedented powers to the federal government.
"Many librarians are increasingly conscious of our roles as guardians of
our users' privacy as an aspect of intellectual freedom - that is, the
freedom to think and learn without fear of reprisal. This freedom is
essential to the existence of a functioning, healthy democracy. And
that's what libraries are all about."
Dodd said the initial destruction order was sent via e-mail, and
"several depository were holding off on compliance with the order to
destroy the docs while they waited for the (official) paper
notification."
The ALA's Michael Gorman noted in his July 30 statement that written
notification had not yet been issued. The written order never came
before the Justice Department capitulated.
Ianuzzi said previous orders to withdraw federal documents generally
applied "to misinformation and in particular to misinformation that
could lead to safety issues. Several years ago they recalled a
geological CDROM because they feared the mapping system it used could be
employed by terrorists for targeting attacks."
Dodd praised Bernie Margolis at the Boston Public Library as "foremost
among those speaking out and questioning the order."
Ianuzzi said that the public doesn't grasp the importance of free access
to information, "and Republicans keep wanting to pull away from it."
While the Berkeley Public Library isn't an official depository, Director
of Library Services Jackie Griffin, a member of Dodd's Intellectual
Freedom committee, hailed the victory.
"Once more, the librarian was mightier than the Ashcroft," she quipped.
"The American Library Association was all over it, and they
capitulated."
Griffin said "Librarians have been more politically active under John
Ashcroft. In a way, you have to thank the man."
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