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John Doe, Employer Win Intellectual Freedom AwardThe librarian known as plaintiff John Doe in John Doe v. Gonzales, along with Doe’s unidentified employer, have been named the recipients of the 2005 Robert B. Downs Intellectual Freedom Award. The award is given by the faculty of the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.Filed in August against U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, Doe v. Gonzales challenges the constitutionality of Section 505 of the USA Patriot Act, which allows the FBI to issue an administrative subpoena known as a national security letter without judicial oversight. Because Section 505 also gags those receiving a national security letter from revealing that fact, neither Doe nor his employer have reacted publicly to a November Washington Post story identifying him as George Christian of the Connecticut consortium Library Connection. The plaintiffs lost an emergency appeal October 7 to have the gag order lifted so they could speak out about the ramifications of the Patriot Act during ongoing congressional debate regarding its reauthorization. Since Doe and his employer cannot directly accept the award, a third party will stand in on their behalf January 21, during a reception at the 2006 ALA Midwinter Meeting in San Antonio. The library school and Greenwood Publishing Group will cohost the event. Posted December 30, 2005. |
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