The ACLU has filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging the constitutionality of the USA Patriot Act. The suit argues that Section 215 of the act violates the Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable searches and seizures and the Fifth Amendment guarantee of due process. Section 215 is the authority (among other things) for searching library records without a warrant or any showing of probable cause. Because the targets of these searches are prohibited from disclosing to the press or anyone else that they were searched, the ACLU is also arguing that the section violates the First Amendment. The plaintiffs in the case are six Islamic organizations from Michigan. News coverage. (PS: Legally this is a slam dunk. Now we'll see whether federal courts have lost their courage after September 11.)
Posted by
Peter Suber at 8/01/2003 09:39:00 PM.
The open access movement:
Putting peer-reviewed scientific and scholarly literature
on the internet. Making it available free of charge and
free of most copyright and licensing restrictions.
Removing the barriers to serious research.
