Posted September 23, 2005.

Connecticut Librarian Must Keep Quiet in Patriot Act Case

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in Manhattan has granted the Department of Justice’s September 16 request for a full stay during its appeal of a district court’s decision to lift the gag order in a case involving a Connecticut library and the USA Patriot Act, pending an expedited appeals process that would allow the court to hear formal arguments from both sides in late October.

“Absent a stay, this appeal is moot,” said Judge Sonia Sotomayor during the questioning, the New York Times reported September 21.

The court speeded up the schedule for the appeal, calling for the government’s brief by September 27 and a response brief due October 4 from the American Civil Liberties Union, which joined the unnamed library in the lawsuit. The court also said it might reconsider the schedule if it appeared Congress could finalize its reauthorization of the Patriot Act before the appeal was decided, according to a September 20 ACLU press release.

The ACLU and the American Library Association’s Washington Office are planning a press conference on the issue September 28, after which they will deliver petitions to U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales urging him to lift the gag order.

Posted September 23, 2005.