11am Registration
    I like to be early to events, I have to have my settle in time. Registration for the New England Library Association's conference started at 11am and they were nice enough to register me at 10:30. I had been thrilled that Staples made 250 copies of my flier for only $25 and even tri-folded them for me. A lot of good it did since they weren't allowing any to be put out. At MLA (Massachusetts) they had any number of fliers available at the registration desk so I assumed the same here. Being paranoid I even checked back to see if other fliers had been put out but nope. I had debated about putting them in various rooms where I had sessions but the same basic rule applied here as did at MLA, stay non-aggressive, don't push. So things were off to a bad start.

    12-1pm Orientation
    Nothing special. Just talk about the conference in general, the area, where to eat, so on. 2 S* fliers given out, no comments.

    1-2pm Creative Design for Library Displays *Fun With Paper*
    The conference booklet had this listed for 1:30 so when I got there at quarter after I wasn't thrilled that it had already been going on for 15 minutes. I don't think I missed much, some of the beginning stuff was very simple but it improved as it went along. There were some interesting 3-D designs for bulletin boards and displays. Different ideas for materials and such, not really my bag but thought maybe I could translate some it to web design. Chatted with a librarian who used to work in neighboring town. No S* talk.

    3-4pm Exhibits *5 AudioBook tables, 0 Graphic Novels*
    Blah. I made an effort to ask questions and show some interest but from a systems standpoint there wasn't much there. You'd think some of the security software people might push their products but we're probably not big enough to attract them. One good find was these guys [www.aaas.org]. They'll hook you with a stack of free materials for programming on health issues.

    [At this point I hadn't really seen a lot of people I already knew but there was at least two instances where people I had met from MLA were not making eye contact at all cost whenever our paths crossed. Oh well, no pushing. I believe it was the only times this happened that I was aware of.]

    4-5:15pm USA Patriot Act Update *Traitors*
    Tough title I know but bear with me. The speaker was Jon Meyer, currently a lawyer in a private law firm but formerly for the ACLU. In order to tout his support for libraries he opened with one of his earliest ACLU cases involving a school board that banned Ms. magazine by a unanimous vote even though the women on the board weren't allowed to look at the magazine because it was considered too offensive. The president of the board was a member of the John Birch Society. The judge overruled the board. Apparently communities aren’t allowed input into what’s made available at a public school, whether they are filled with dumb women and JBS members or not.

    He gave a brief overview of Section 215, nothing controversial: FBI can get an order for intangible items if relevant to international terrorism or clandestine intelligence as long as the evidence is not based solely on what would be covered under the 1st Amendment and then only for Americans.

    He made a bit of slip when he said that there was a FISA court overview and he said that close to every application filed was approved. Close to? According to the anti-Patriot Act folk the judge involved has his hands tied and would never be able to deny an application. Checks and balances… imagine that.

    He also mentioned that contentious bit about recipients of the order, in this case the librarians, have to keep the use of sec. 215 confidential. We'll get to that in a bit.

    After he gave the overview of the act he also gave the overview of the opposition to it. He noted the arguments for right to privacy and pointed out that there is no right to privacy anywhere in the Constitution. Fascinating. The closest thing to it is the 4th Amendment dealing with search and seizure and only applies to a person's person or home or vehicle. The government gets to define what's covered outside of the home. He noted that arguments have been made both for and against things like school lockers and office desks. The crux relies on the expectation of privacy, if the person in charge makes it clear that the employee or student has no privacy while there, then they don't.

    He then discussed the concept of privacy of thought. He quoted two cases, the first was Watchtower Society vs. Village of Stratton dealing with the right to communicate in anonymity, which was allowed, and Stanley vs. Georgia which involved obscene materials in the home which was also allowed.

    There was some talk about state laws but he quickly pointed out that the Patriot Act trumps state law.

    There is currently a case making its way through the legal system called Muslim Community Association of Ann Arbor vs Ashcroft (I think) which could take 3 to 5 years to play out. It argues that the Patriot Act constitutes unreasonable search and seizure, violates the 1st Amendment, and "chills thought".

    An interesting point was made by Mr. Meyer concerning the Attorney General's report in December ‘03, which stated that up to that time sec. 215 had not been used. His thought was that due to the public outcry about the Patriot Act the AG was avoiding using it. We'll come back to this.

    He talked some about a librarian's recourse when approached by law enforcement using the Patriot Act, which was basically none. This was followed up with a Q&A session that involved multiple people sharing their experience with law enforcement who have asked for information about people without using the Patriot Act. Out of all of these scenarios one thing was perfectly clear, that it was in the best interest of everyone involved, librarian/suspect/law officer, that there be a subpoena or warrant issued for the information.

    This is perfectly understandable. Actual criminals have gotten off because of sloppy police work. We shouldn't be encouraging this. In fact if we gave the information out freely we would be helping a potential terrorist not the officer asking.

    Now what was also made perfectly clear through the opinions shared at the session was that there are those among us who are looking for an opportunity to put the confidentiality clause of Sec 215 to the test. Meaning if they are issued a warrant by way of the Patriot Act they will publicly state that they were and who the person was that was asked about. They have a *desire* to tell, likely in an effort to make the administration and Ashcroft look bad.

    Law enforcement can keep an individual under surveillance all the time without that person's knowledge. The idea that somehow getting access to information about someone without having to follow them 24/7 and without having to spook them into running is a bad thing seems a little odd. And again there are checks and balances in place to avoid corruption and abuse. All of it? No, but that's neither new nor achievable.

    So, we have law enforcement doing basically the same job they have always done and we have a section of our profession that wants to deliberately undermine it regardless of the guilt or innocence of the person being investigated. Simply by being vocal about this view, by stating loudly that they would not co-operate it is possible that in fact they have inhibited the use of these tools Congress passed to help expedite the investigation process, tools lauded by representatives of two different administrations when speaking before the 9/11 Commission. That anyone would so strongly desire to undermine an investigation involving terrorism is in fact a traitor. This isn't about rights, it’s about politics, and when you put politics before your country you're a traitor. If this happens it won't be Ashcroft with egg on his face, it will be whoever happens to be ALA President when they have to explain why a librarian would do this.

    End Conference Day

    Sunday Night
    I stayed at the Wayfarer Inn, a place that doesn’t go up but instead all over the place. It does have a stream running through it so that you can look out your window and have a nice view. There was originally a sawmill there so they are going for that kind of feel. Cool bar called Quackers, they make a good reuben and great stuffed potato skins. Michael Golrick, ALA executive board member happened to be staying at the hotel and I got to meet him in the bar and talk shop for an hour or so. He hadn’t heard of S* and originally thought I was these guys. I saw him several times throughout the conference and I did give him a pamphlet the next day. I never had a chance to get his opinion on it. I don’t think it would’ve been a positive one but he seemed friendly enough to be able to debate about the issues.