[MSN] Librarian 'shocked' by gag order. Trumbull man speaks out on Patriot Act, government secrecy

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Librarian 'shocked' by gag order 
Trumbull man speaks out on Patriot Act, government secrecy 
EDWARD J. CROWDER ecrowder at ctpost.com
Connecticut Post Online 
 
Until Tuesday, the U.S. Justice Department forced George Christian of
Trumbull to hold his tongue.
Christian, executive director of a nonprofit library association in Windsor,
had to keep quiet about the national security letter he received last summer
ordering him to share library patrons' records with the FBI.

He bit his tongue as officials, including the former U.S. attorney general,
denied that the FBI was using the Patriot Act to seize library records.

And he had to sit out the national debate as Congress considered renewing
USA Patriot Act provisions that allow the FBI, in terrorism investigations,
to issue national security letters demanding those records without getting
court warrants.

During that time, he couldn't even confirm he was under a gag order, even
though the Justice Department inadvertently revealed his name in public
documents, and several newspapers - including this one - had published it.

On Tuesday, after the Justice Department abandoned the gag order, Christian
spoke out.

"I am relieved that a federal court has at long last lifted a Patriot Act
gag order and allowed me to acknowledge that I am the recipient of a
national security letter on behalf of my organization, Library Connection
Inc.," Christian said during a news conference in New York.

The news conference was arranged by the American Civil Liberties Union,
which fought the federal gag order on behalf of the Library Connection and
its executive committee.

Christian said he is troubled because he was unable to speak freely until
after Congress reauthorized the Patriot Act in March.

"I very much wanted to focus public attention and the attention of Congress
on my concerns," he said. "I am embarrassed that my government would stoop
to tactics like this to stifle free and open debate. The fact that I can
speak now is a little like being permitted to call the fire department only
after a building has burned to the ground."

Christian, also president of the Fairchild Nichols Library Association, was
joined by three other state librarians who serve on the Library Connection's
executive board.

They include its president, Barbara Bailey, also director of the
Welles-Turner Memorial Library in Glastonbury; its vice president, Peter
Chase, director of the Plainville Public Library; and its secretary, Janet
Nocek, director of the Portland Library.

The Library Connection is a cooperative of 27 municipal and academic
libraries, mostly in the Hartford area, that share an automated library
system.

Christian said he received the letter last August and was "shocked" by the
restrictions of the gag order, which essentially said he could never discuss
the FBI's request for library records with anyone. He said it was not clear
whether he could talk to an attorney.

Ultimately, he said, he brought his dilemma before Library Connection's
executive committee because only they had the power to act on the FBI's
request, "although I knew I was risking penalties for violating the explicit
instructions of the NSL."

The committee took its case to the ACLU, which went to U.S. District Court
in Bridgeport, seeking an emergency order lifting the gag so the librarians
could participate in the congressional debate on the Patriot Act.

In September, U.S. District Judge Janet C. Hall sided with the librarians,
but the Justice Department took the case to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals. The federal appeals court never ruled on the case; it lifted the
gag order recently after the Justice Department said it would no longer
enforce it.

U.S. Attorney Kevin J. O'Connor said Tuesday that despite their inability to
speak publicly, the librarians and ACLU played a key role in getting the
Patriot Act changed to ease gag restrictions pertaining to national security
letters.

The FBI, which issues national security letters without a court order, now
has the power to waive the secrecy requirement. When it does not, it can no
longer issue permanent, blanket gag orders. Also, recipients are now
informed that they can challenge gag orders in court, O'Connor said.

Those changes, he said, were approved by Congress when it reauthorized the
Patriot Act, along with provisions introducing specific penalties for
violating the secrecy provisions.

O'Connor said the Justice Department was not free to seek removal of the gag
order until the Patriot Act had been revised.

"I know it's being perceived as we didn't change our mind until after the
statute was passed," he said. "We didn't have a choice. Prior to the
reauthorization of the Patriot Act, the government had no ability to make
exceptions."

He declined to comment on what specific threat to security prompted the
demand for the library records, or whether national security had been
compromised by revealing the librarians' names.

The librarians, now free to speak, continue to fight the FBI's request for
information about their patrons, said ACLU Associate Legal Director Ann
Beeson.

She said the case shows Americans should "be skeptical - be very skeptical"
when the government attempts to demand information about private citizens
under a shroud of secrecy.

Edward J. Crowder, who covers regional issues, can be reached at 330-6326.