[Libs-Or] Fw: Update: Senate Judiciary Committee Sends PATRIOT Act Renewal To Full Senate

[Diedre Conkling]

Update: Senate Judiciary Committee Sends PATRIOT Act Renewal To Full
Senate<http://www.oif.ala.org/oif/?p=638> Posted
on October 8th, 2009 by Deborah Caldwell-Stone

Today the Senate Judiciary Committee voted 11-8 to send the PATRIOT Act
reauthorization bill to the full Senate. The New York
Times<http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/08/judiciary-panel-approves-patriot-act-sections/>and
the Associated
Press<http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5i9LLhtcanBcNhniDqSpnQljdFVogD9B748KG2>provide
an overview of the hearing.

Senator Sessions (R-AL) offered several amendments (apparently sought by the
Obama administration)<http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/10/8/791144/-Its-Not-the-Prosecutors-Committee,-its-the-Judiciary-Committee>that
further limited provisions intended to increase civil liberties
protections. All the amendments were adopted.

Of greatest interest to the library community is Sessions’ amendment to the
proposed higher Section 215 standard for library records. The amendment
eliminates the language “records pertaining to libraries” so that the higher
standard only applies to library circulation records. Library records other
than circulation records will therefore be subject to the same relevance
standard applicable to all other business records and tangible things sought
by a Section 215 order, even if such records associate users with the use of
electronic books and other resources. For library circulation records, the
government would have to prove that the records sought pertain to an agent
of a foreign power, to a person in contact with or known to an agent of a
foreign power, or to the activities of an agent of a foreign power.

Sessions’ amendments also alter proposed language that would have placed
limits on NSL gag orders. One amendment eliminated the requirement that the
FBI review all NSL non-disclosure orders on an ongoing basis and rescind the
gag order when circumstances no longer warrant continuing it; instead, the
FBI will only be required to review the facts supporting a gag order when an
NSL recipient notifies the FBI that it would like the gag lifted. The second
NSL amendment eliminated the court’s discretion on lifting a gag order: if
the government makes the necessary showing, the court has no discretion to
lift the gag; it “shall” keep it in place (previous language used “may”.)

The remaining Sessions amendments limited the minimization requirements for
pen register/trap-and-trace orders.

Notably, Senator Durbin (D-IL) offered an amendment that would have imposed
higher standards on NSLs. It was voted down.

Senator Feingold (D-WI) offered an amendment to impose minimization
standards on the data collected by NSLs; it passed. But Senator Kyl (R-AZ)
asked for, and won, an amendment that eliminated the requirement that the
FBI offer “specific and articulable” facts to show that the NSL is relevant
to an investigation; instead, the FBI will only be required to show
“specific facts.”

(Thanks to the Center for Democracy and Technology <http://cdt.org/> for
sharing their report on the hearing.)

http://www.oif.ala.org/oif/?p=638



-- 
Diedre Conkling
Lincoln County Library District
P.O. Box 2027
Newport, OR  97365
Work phone & fax:  541-265-3066
Work email:  diedre at beachbooks.org
Home email:  diedre08 at gmail.com
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