"Attorney General John Ashcroft today placed a phone call to American Library Association President Carla Hayden and told her that he would work to declassify the Justice Department report on Section 215 of the 'Patriot' Act, the section pertaining to government access to library and bookstore records. Ashcroft also said he was concerned that people misunderstood his commitment to civil liberties.
ALA issued a press release... in which Hayden said she 'welcomed' the Attorney General's call and particularly his commitment to declassify the report, which she said was an 'important first step' for effective public oversight of the Act.
It is a good sign that Ashcroft has made this gesture, particularly given the Bush administration's tendency to attempt to denigrate and isolate its critics. Whether this will result in any effective change remains to be seen. At the very least, however, the call suggests that the administration is perhaps realizing that it needs to address the concerns of librarians and other critics of the 'Patriot' Act in a different way.
Still, the call should be seen as what it is, damage control. That isn't entirely a bad thing. But we should be clear that the push for accountability and for the defense of civil liberties needs to continue." [commons-blog]
