Gag order ad infinitum

Examples abound of things that are happening (or have happened, fait accompli) that are morally and ethically offensive, but that’s that and move right along. Nat Hentoff wrote Big John Wants Your Reading List for the Village Voice revealing that Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act (oh yeah, it passed, remember?) “…would grant FBI agents across the country breathtaking authority to obtain an order from the FISA [Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act] court . . . requiring any person or business to produce any books, records, documents, or items.”

This order can be granted about persons suspected of terrorism or other clandestine activities. The really cool part about it is that when the order is served, an automatic gag order is invoked (as if by magic) on the bookstore or library providing the records. It has now become illegal to tell anyone that the FBI is investigating these persons.

Now, ostensibly, this works just great because now the person can never find out they are being investigated. It works great if the person is actually guilty, which this type of law basically assumes. However, even if you’re not guilty, the FBI can be investigating you and you’ll never know. They can investigate anyone they like under this kind of law and no one will ever know. That doesn’t sound right, does it? You can’t even say that a gag order has been imposed and that you can say no more. Gag order ad infinitum. Ashcroft must be messing his shorts just at the thought.

“But now, under this provision of the USA Patriot Act, how does one track what’s going on? How many bookstores and libraries will have their records seized? Are any of them bookstores or libraries that you frequent? Are these court orders part of FBI fishing expeditions, like Ashcroft’s mass roundups of immigrants?”