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Federal Judge Orders Lift on Gag in Patriot Act CaseA federal judge lifted a gag order September 9 that prevented an unnamed Connecticut library from identifying itself as the recipient of a national security letter under the USA Patriot Act.The ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Janet Hall would allow the American Civil Liberties Union—which together with the unnamed client filed a lawsuit August 9 challenging the FBI’s demand for user records—to identify the library that had received the request for records. However, Hall stayed the order until September 20 to allow the government a chance to appeal. The government had argued that revealing the library’s identity could jeopardize an investigation into terrorism by tipping off suspects, according to a September 9 Associated Press report. But the judge rejected the prosecutors’ contention that the gag order blocked only the library’s identity and not its ability to speak out about the Patriot Act. “Considering the current national interest in and the important issues surrounding the debate on renewal of the Patriot Act provisions,” the judge wrote, “it is apparent to this court that the loss of Doe’s ability to speak out now . . . is a real and present loss of its First Amendment right to free speech that cannot be remedied.” Hall also noted that the national security letter statute “has the practical effect of silencing those who have the most intimate knowledge of the statute’s effect and a strong interest in advocating against the federal government’s broad investigative powers.” Posted September 12, 2005. |
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