It has been suggested that this message from the end of February should be
reposted...

>  -----Original Message-----
> From:         Lord, Linda
> Sent: Tuesday, February 26, 2002 9:58 AM
> To:   MELIBS ADMINISTRATION ([log in to unmask])
> Subject:      USA PATRIOT Act Information As Requested
>
>
> Subject:      USA PATRIOT ACT ((Uniting and Strengthening American by
> Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism)
> - News from Assistant Attorney General as reported to MLA Executive Bd. In
> January, 2002
>
>
> BACKGROUND:  (1) State of Maine laws have always said that a Court Order
> would trump our confidentiality law.  (2) Most of the USA PATRIOT Act
> amends laws already in place.  For example, there were many laws that
> allowed wiretapping before the Act.  Terrorism crimes were added by the
> PATRIOT Act.
>
> The key component of an Order under the USA PATRIOT Act asking for release
> of "business records" is that it has to be signed by a judge - and not all
> judges are entitled to do so.
>
> *     The library's duty is to comply with the Order.  It's not the
> library's job to fight the Order.  The person who is the subject of a
> search has the responsibility of getting a lawyer who finds out why the
> Order was issued and/or challenges the way the government went after the
> information.  Libraries are not proxies for asserting violations of
> patrons' rights. In short, the patron has to defend his or her own rights.
>
> *     The PATRIOT Act does not require that you maintain records.  It says
> if you do maintain records, you have to produce them if ordered to do so.
> . You have to accept the Court Order and comply with it. Don't try to
> refuse service.  (After having accepted the Order then, if you have to,
> talk to your lawyer and decide what it is and what it means.)
>
> *     If a library has a policy on who can accept a court order, that
> person should be located.  Otherwise it can be given to the most senior
> person on the premises, or the person at the circulation desk. Maine law
> does not designate an official keeper of the records in libraries.
>
> *     Libraries are not responsible if 3d party "innocent" peoples'
> records are turned over to authorities as the result of an Order.  If
> items requested in the Order are produced in good faith as the result of
> an Order, the library is not liable for anything and neither is the person
> who turned over the records.
> .
> *     The PATRIOT Act is clear that if you are asked to provide records
> under a court Order, you can be asked to locate, decode or unscramble the
> information.  It's not obstruction of justice to have a scrambler.  It is
> obstruction of justice not to dismantle a firewall or to unscramble
> information, just as it would be an obstruction of justice not to unlock a
> file cabinet.
> .
> *     The PATRIOT Act says you (library staff) can't tell the target of an
> Order if his/her records are being searched.
>
> *     Library computers can be confiscated during an investigation.  A
> member of the Maine Computer Crimes Task Force, as well as an assistant
> attorney general, have told MSL staffers that the normal procedure is to
> copy information off the computer's hard drive and return the computer to
> its institution of origin.
>
> Misc.
>
> *     There are two ways an Order can be worded:
> 1.  Can request all records referring to a particular patron
> 2.  Can request names of all computer users or users of specific material.
>
> *     Student records (K-12) are governed under FERPA, the Family
> Education Rights and Privacy Act of 1974. School libraries for K-12
> schools are not covered by Maine's confidentiality law.
>
> Our legal system refers to "reasonable expectations of privacy" which work
> outward in concentric circles from our bodies to our homes, cars, etc.
> The "outer layers" aren't perceived as critical as the "inner" layers.
> Maine is one of a minority of states that does not have a state
> wiretapping law.  However, Maine does allow telephone conversations to be
> tapped with one party consent.
>
> By the way, the Maine Attorney General's Office represents state agencies.
> It does not act for municipalities.
>
> Linda H. Lord
> Director of Library Development
> Maine State Library
> 64 State House Station
> Augusta, ME
> 04333
> Telephone 207-287-5620
> FAX  207-287-5624
> e-mail  [log in to unmask]
> www.state.me.us/msl/ <www.state.me.us/msl/>
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