Posted on 01/25/2006 12:08:57 PM PST by Jim Noble
Law enforcement and Newton Free Library officials were embroiled in a tense standoff for nearly 10 hours last week when the city refused to let police and the FBI examine library computers without a warrant.
Police rushed to the main library last Wednesday after it was determined that a terrorist threat to Brandeis University had been sent from a computer at the library.
But requests to examine any of its computers were rebuffed by library Director Kathy Glick-Weil and Mayor David Cohen on the grounds that they did not have a warrant.
While one law enforcement official said he was "totally disgusted" with the city’s attempt to hold up a time-sensitive investigation of potential terrorist threat, Cohen is defending the library’s actions, calling it one of Newton’s "finest hours."
"We showed you can enforce the law ... without jeopardizing the privacy of innocent citizens," Cohen said.
Brandeis received the alleged e-mail threat at about 11 a.m. on Jan. 18, according to Waltham Lt. Brian Navin. While police reportedly didn’t find anything threatening after evacuating 12 buildings at Brandeis and a nearby elementary school, by about 2 p.m., the e-mail was traced to a computer at the Newton Free Library on Homer Street.
Newton Police, followed shortly by FBI and State Police officers, rushed to the library to lock the building down, Glick-Weil said.
"There was a lot of excitement going on," she said.
Police traced the origin of the e-mail to one of the 21 computers in the second-floor lab, Glick-Weil said. She agreed to have her information technology worker examine the computers, but said the FBI requested for information about the computers without a warrant, even though they were familiar with library privacy laws.
"You’ll have to ask them why they did that," she said.
An FBI spokesman, as well as Lt. Bruce Apotheker of the Newton Police, both said their offices would not comment on the investigation.
Cohen was asked by FBI officials to turn over information on all the computers, but said he could not without a warrant. It took U.S. attorneys several hours to finally get a warrant, Glick-Weil said, and they took the computer from the library at about 11:30 that night, after the library had closed.
But a law enforcement official who was close to the investigation but said he was not authorized to speak on the record, described the incident in an e-mail as a "nightmare."
He said Glick-Weil was told "we were dealing with a potential terrorism plot" but became "close to uncontrollable, saying that we had no right to be there."
Nancy Murray, director of education for the Boston branch of the American Civil Liberties Union, said she was surprised the FBI asked for information without a warrant.
"They couldn’t possibly expect to get [the computer] without a warrant," she said. "Good for the library for knowing more about warrants than the police."
"The law requires us to protect the privacy of library users," Glick-Weil said.
Glick-Weil said there was a "little bit of tension" during the investigation, but overall thought it went smoothly.
"I found the process encouraging," she said. "If law enforcement thinks it has probable cause, it can get a warrant in a timely fashion."
What expectation of privacy does anyone have on a PUBLIC ACCESS library computer? Someone should have been arrested at that library.
None, of course.
And they still expect the perpetrator to be sitting there?
What happened to the 72 hours after the search?
This is the same place where parents, other members of the public and the media were excluded from a gay-indoctrination session targeting their kids in the high school.
It all goes back to the NSA 'domestic wiretapping' story. They wanted to stand up to the facist imperial stormtroopers and uphold vital civil liberties, even if someone gets killed in a terrorist attack. Liberals disgust me.
Liberals think terrorists are some kind of petty criminals, not irregular combat troops of a hostile foreign power.
I really hate to say this, but I think they were absolutely correct in demanding the warrant.
Well, there goes their Federal grants!!!
How would you feel if the threat turned deadly and hundreds of Brandeis University students were MURDERED?
What if information obtained in those ten hours would have prevented the senseless killing of innocent Americans?
The terrorists need no warrant. At the very least, the 72-hour rule should apply.
Was Mayor Cohen an Agent Provocotuer?
Either it was a lawful search or it wasn't. If it was an illegal search then the library was absolutley right for demanding a warrant.
Kudos to the library for following the law.
Agreed. The police had already determined that there was no public danger ("While police reportedly didn’t find anything threatening after evacuating 12 buildings at Brandeis and a nearby elementary school..."). There was no reason to not get a warrant first.
I don't find their conduct disgraceful. I see no reason the government cannot get a warrant if it wants to search. It is made very clear in the fourth Amendment. This Amendment, like all of the others, is able to be modified by a new Amendment. If you wish the government to be able to conduct warrantless searches, pass another Amendment.
I agree completely. They had 2 hrs to get a warrant as they were tracing the e-mail address. Most the time they are rubber stamped anyhow.
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