[OPLINLIST] 30, 000 Patriot Act information requests annually? Whats the Sour ce?

[Epling, Jimmie (KDLA)]

It was recently reported that over 30,000 Patriot Act requests by
authorities are made annually.  This was the first time I had heard such a
statistic reported.  Until now, I was under the impression that formal and
informal Patriot Act requests from libraries alone was about 200 since Oct.
2001 according to a $300,000 ALA study (U.S. demanded data from libraries,
study finds. The New York Times. June 21, 2005).  This seemed a wild-eyed
exaggeration based on previous information.  Is there an average of 82
Patriot Act requests every day?   

The first time I encountered this 30,000 request statement was in the New
York Times (Books for Lending, Data for Taking. New York Times. Nov. 20,
2005. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/20/weekinreview/20cowan.html.)  

It was reported again in an editorial in the Ashland (KY) Daily Independent
(Time to amend. Ashland Daily Indepandent. Nov. 26, 2005 
http://www.dailyindependent.com/articles/2005/11/27/opinions/editorials/01am
end27.txt)  This article attributed the source to a report in the Washington
Post.  

The Washington Post reported on Nov. 10, 2005 in "Rising Support Cited for
Limits On Patriot Act" (Dan Eggen. pg. A.03) The article states "The Patriot
Act negotiations come amid new revelations of the FBI's use of "national
security letters," which require companies to provide private information
about their customers and to keep the request secret. Aided by loosened
restrictions under the law, the FBI issues more than 30,000 such letters
annually, compared with about 300 a year before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks,
sources told The Washington Post."

How are the Washington Post's unnamed sources able to make such an estimate?
On what information is it based?  Who are these sources? If the Patriot Act
is to be successfully opposed, then a quote like this must have a firm
foundation in fact from credible sources if it is not to run the risk of
being label "wild-eyed" exaggeration.

Can anyone shed more light on this "fact"?

Jimmie
 
Jimmie Epling, Regional Librarian
FIVCO/Big Sandy Regional Office
Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives
P.O. Box 370, 122 South Main Cross St. 
Louisa, KY 41230-0370
V: 606.638.4797  F:606.638.0586
jimmie.epling at ky.gov
 

-----Original Message-----
From: Moore, Nelda (KDLA) 
Sent: Monday, November 28, 2005 11:07 AM
To: Epling, Jimmie (KDLA)
Subject: RE: 30,000 Patriot Act information requests annually? 

Thanks for finding out.  I thought the number sounded too big.  And I agree
that it works against what it's trying to do to exaggerate numbers/facts.

Now, are you going to post the finding on the director's list?

-----Original Message-----
From: Epling, Jimmie (KDLA) 
Sent: Monday, November 28, 2005 8:30 AM
To: Moore, Nelda (KDLA)
Subject: RE: 30,000 Patriot Act information requests annually? 

Nelda,

A report several months ago stated that ALA had spent some $300,000 that
found only about 200 formal and informal inquiries since 2001.  This is a
far cry from 30,000 plus requests annually!

It irritates me that such a questionable "fact" is used without question to
attack the potentially serious problem of the Patriot Act.

Jimmie  

 
Jimmie Epling, Regional Librarian
FIVCO/Big Sandy Regional Office
Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives
P.O. Box 370, 122 South Main Cross St. 
Louisa, KY 41230-0370
V: 606.638.4797  F:606.638.0586
jimmie.epling at ky.gov
 

-----Original Message-----
From: Moore, Nelda (KDLA) 
Sent: Sunday, November 27, 2005 1:37 PM
To: Epling, Jimmie (KDLA)
Subject: RE: 30,000 Patriot Act information requests annually? 

 I couldn't agree more. It sounds like a lot to me, especially as it is
supposed to be impossible to find out who's been asked in the first place.
You go, boy.

-----Original Message-----
From: Epling, Jimmie   (KDLA)
To: Moore, Nelda  (KDLA)
Sent: 11/27/2005 11:40 AM
Subject: RE: 30,000 Patriot Act information requests annually? 

Nelda,

This 30,000 plus figure has cropped up again in an editorial in the
Ashland Daily Independent.  It quotes the Washington Post as the source.

If the Patriot Act is to be successfully opposed, then anything that
seems over stated must be reviewed for accuracy, otherwise you give your
opponents the leverage they need to declare you a wild-eyed alarmist.

This has got my interest and I plan to pursue it!

Jimmie 

-----Original Message-----
From: Moore, Nelda  (KDLA)
To: Epling, Jimmie   (KDLA)
Sent: 11/27/2005 11:34 AM
Subject: FW: 30,000 Patriot Act information requests annually? 

 When you get it, if you do, please let me know.  It sounds like a lot
to me, and this is really scary if it is accurate.

-----Original Message-----
From: All Ky Library Directors
Sent: 11/22/2005 9:18 AM
Subject: 30,000 Patriot Act information requests annually? 

Original from: "Epling, Jimmie (KDLA)" <Jimmie.Epling at ky.gov>


In the article "Books for Lending, Data for Taking" (New York Times.
Nov. 20, 2005), the following statement is made:

 

"The request is one of an estimated 30,000 made to businesses and
institutions each year by federal agents under the Patriot Act."

 

This works out to just over 82 requests per day.  Can someone give me
the name of the agency or organization that is the source for this
estimate?  I am curious how this estimate was determined.

 

Jimmie  

 


 

Jimmie Epling, Regional Librarian

FIVCO/Big Sandy Regional Office

Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives

P.O. Box 370, 122 South Main Cross St. 

Louisa, KY 41230-0370

V: 606.638.4797  F:606.638.0586

 <mailto:jimmie.epling at ky.gov> jimmie.epling at ky.gov