High Court Input Eyed in Patriot Act Case

[deadparrot]

WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court was asked Monday to intervene in a Patriot Act case in which plaintiffs claim authorities used the anti-terrorism law to cloak library records demands from the FBI.

The American Civil Liberties Union filed the emergency appeal, on behalf of an anonymous client, but the paperwork is censored and gives few details.

The ACLU has argued that a gag order prevents its client, apparently librarians in Connecticut, from participating in a debate over whether Congress should reauthorize the Patriot Act.

A federal judge said that the gag order had "the practical effect of silencing individuals with a constitutionally protected interest in speech and whose voices are particularly important in an ongoing national debate about the intrusion of governmental authority into individual lives."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051004/ap_on_go_su_co/scotus_patriot_act_1