S. 193 Restores Key Safeguards for Reader Privacy.

    Prior to the passage of the Patriot Act, the government needed “probable cause” to believe that a person was engaged in criminal acts before it could conduct a search.  Section 215 gave the FBI the power to search anything it considers “relevant” to a terrorism investigation, including the bookstore and library records of people who are not suspected of doing anything illegal.  This is an invitation to investigate people on the basis of the books they read and creates the danger that Americans will lose the freedom to read what they want out of a fear that the government is looking over their shoulder.  S. 193 limits Section 215 searches of bookstores and libraries to the records of people the government believes are terrorists or people known to terrorists.

S. 193 Expands Judicial and Legislative Oversight of Government Surveillance.

    The Patriot Act authorizes the government to gag booksellers, librarians and others receiving Section 215 orders, which are used to search “any tangible thing,” and National Security Letters (NSLs), which are used to search electronic records.  It also requires the courts to favor the government when a gag is challenged if a senior official asserts that disclosure would endanger national security.  S. 193 authorizes recipients to challenge a nondisclosure order as soon as they receive it.  It also removes the presumption in favor of the government.  

    S. 193 also requires the inspectors generals of the Department of Justice and all government intelligence agencies to conduct audits of the use of Section 215 orders and NSLs from 2007 through 2011.  Previous audits have been critically important in uncovering abuses of Patriot Act powers, including widespread violations of the regulations governing NSLs as well as one case in which the government improperly sought a Section 215 order that targeted First Amendment activity.  When the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court rejected the request on First Amendment grounds, the FBI issued an NSL for the information.  NSLs do not require court approval.

S. 193 Does Not Threaten National Security.

    Attorney General Eric Holder has already voluntarily implemented many of the reforms in S. 193, including the additional protections for bookstore and library records.  Senator Dianne Feinstein, the chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, supports S. 193.  “We have made certain, and confirmed with the Justice Department and intelligence community, that this bill does not hamper intelligence operations or investigations,” Feinstein wrote recently.