Internet users work at the computers at the Philadelphia Public Library (AP)
Libraries and the Patriot Act Story aired: Wednesday, July 02, 2003
On October 24th, 2001, President George W. Bush signed the USA Patriot Act into law. A small section of the law gives the FBI the authority to petition for library records deemed relevant to investigations into international terrorism.
That, say librarians, infringes of the 1st Amendment right for library patrons to gather information freely and on the 4th amendment, which protects against unreasonable search and seizure.
Today, in the third installment of our series on civil liberties, we look at the nation's public libraries.
Guests:
Bernard Margolis, president of the Boston Public Library
Deborah Caldwell Stone, deputy director of intellectual freedom for the American Library Association
