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BARBARA BAILEY My name is Barbara Bailey. I am the president of the Library Connection in
In August 2005 the FBI visited us and gave us a National Security Letter. This is a kind of subpoena that the FBI uses to get records of people without any proof they have done anything wrong and without going to a court. The USA PATRIOT Act expanded the way that National Security Letters can be used. It also said anyone who gets one cannot talk about it. If they do, they can face prosecution. So here we were – myself and three of my colleagues who also knew about the FBI visit. We were all gagged. We couldn't tell anyone we had received the letter, or what kind of records were being demanded. But we did tell the American Civil Liberties Union. They filed a suit for us challenging the National Security Letter on First Amendment grounds. But our names had to be kept secret because of the gag provision. We were called "John Doe." It was a very frustrating time for us. The debate about reauthorizing the USA PATRIOT Act was underway. The Administration kept saying there were absolutely no civil liberties abuses under the PATRIOT Act. It said it did not snoop in libraries. We wanted to testify otherwise, but could say nothing. The judge in our case ruled that the gag should be lifted, but the government appealed, saying this would violate national security. Finally, after the PATRIOT Act was reauthorized by Congress, the government stopped appealing the judge's ruling. We were finally allowed to speak in public and tell our story. But by then it was too late for us to make a difference in the PATRIOT Act debate. |