DoJ Requested Libraries to Destroy Law Books
Last week, the Department of Justice asked that public libraries destroy five public documents that the department deemed not “appropriate for external use.” The documents, two of which are texts of federal statutes, cover forfeiture and include information on how citizens can retrieve items that may have been confiscated by the government during an investigation.
Yesterday, the DoJ reversed that decision after the American Library Association submitted a Freedom of Information Act request for the materials in order to obtain an official response from the DoJ. Now the publications will remain in libraries. If the libraries had followed the DoJ’s request the documents would only have been available to those who have access to a law office or law library.
(via Boing Boing)
My official position is this: Fuck you, John Ashcroft. I don’t know what that’s got to do with this, but it seemed like the right thing to say.
“Oh, I hate the government…”
-whiny protest song, a la Animaniacs
Yay ALA!