An incremental victory

Louise at The Librarian's Rant brought it to my attention that, in response to political pressure from Congressman Bernie Sanders and other critics of the so-called "PATRIOT" Act, Attorney General John Ashcroft has agreed to supply information about how often Section 215 of the Act has been used to secretly rummage through library and bookstore records.

This is a Good Thing, assuming that the information supplied is complete and accurate. Accountability is an essential part of a functioning democracy, and one of the "PATRIOT" Act's most egregrious flaws is its emphasis on governmental secrecy and unaccountability, as exemplified by the Justice Department's refusal to supply Congress or American citizens with any information about how its various provisions were being used. But I hope this isn't just a sop thrown to the unexpectedly outspoken librarian lobby to keep them quiet while the Justice Department continues to use other provisions of the Act to push beyond the boundaries of the Constitution.

(I would have posted links to THOMAS's text of the "PATRIOT" Act, but THOMAS seems to be offline, possibly due to the hurricane currently raging through eastern Virginia. Damn hurricanes.)