A coalition of library organizations which includes the American Library Association (ALA) sponsored a gathering this week in Washington DC to promote awareness and advocacy on a broad assortment of political issues that impact libraries. The ALA's priorities for the National Library Legislative Day (NLLD) include advocating net neutrality, promoting copyright reform, and voicing concerns about the Real ID Act and the Patriot Act.

The ALA also called for "ongoing investigations" into FBI use (and abuse) of National Security Letters (NSLs) and asked legislators to "incorporate judicial review and remove gag orders from NSLs." NSLs, a special kind of subpoena that can be issued without probable cause or judicial oversight, prohibit recipients from disclosing information about NSLs to the extent that recipients can't even publicly admit receiving one. Although the basic concept of NSLs has existed in American law since the late 70s, the Patriot Act expanded the potential for abuse by making it possible for federal law enforcement agents to use NSLs to investigate citizens who are not suspects in any criminal investigations.

Lack of judicial oversight in NSL issuance and implementation is particularly disturbing in light of revelations regarding systematic abuses of Patriot Act powers (particularly NSLs) and investigatory misconduct that are apparently pervasive within the FBI and other law enforcement agencies. Initially, the Patriot Act allowed law enforcement agents to get full access to any library records that they sought for formal investigations. The standards were changed during the reauthorization process and now require that law enforcement agents have "reasonable grounds" to believe that such records are "relevant" to an investigation. As the ALA points out, the new standard still leaves open the possibility of wide search order requests because it still doesn't require the FBI to demonstrate that targeted individuals are themselves suspects.

The ALA also encourages supporters and NLLD participants to support network neutrality by promoting the Internet Freedom Preservation Act, which aims to prevent Internet service providers from leveraging network control in predatory ways that could potentially limit free speech on the Internet. The ALA supports copyright reform as well and wants additional exceptions added to the DMCA to protect fair use rights.

The ALA's political agenda reflects the organization's extensive understanding of the present legislative climate and the consequences that sweeping laws like that Patriot Act have on libraries and library patrons. In addition to promoting advocacy, the ALA and other sponsors of the NLLD are also looking to improve awareness. At a series of briefings that were part of the event, policy experts presented information on topics like privacy and telecommunications and advocacy experts gave tips on how concerned citizens can make their message heard. The ALA is one of many organizations calling for reform as more evidence of systematic Patriot Act abuses continues to emerge.