Battle Of The Book Subpoenas Goes To The Judge
WASHINGTON (AllPolitics, April 3) -- The judge overseeing Independent Counsel Ken Starr's grand jury probe said she will decide within a week whether to quash subpoenas for lists of books former White House intern Monica Lewinsky purchased from two Washington bookstores.
Lewinsky's attorneys joined forces with a popular Washington bookstore Friday in arguing to keep private the records for all of Lewinsky's book purchases over the past 2 1/2 years.
Reaction to Starr's subpoenas ranged from outrage to a puzzled, "Can they do that?"
"What in the hell are federal prosecuting attorneys doing subpoenaing bookstores," Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-N.Y.) told The Associated Press. "You just don't do that... It is no crime to read and what you have read has nothing to do in court."
And now a legal reaction: D.C.'s Kramerbooks, along with the national chain Barnes & Noble, have filed motions to halt what some see as justifiable requests.
"We're not talking about idle government curiosity here," said former Assistant Attorney General Richard Willard. "We're talking about a criminal investigation. There are serious charges that have been made of obstruction of justice and tampering with witnesses."
But the bookstore owners asked Judge Norma Holloway Johnson on Friday to balance the governmental need for information against the burden it places on constitutional rights to privacy. The sweeping subpoenas fail to meet the balancing test, the stores argued.
First reports, including the name of at least one book that Lewinsky had purchased, made it appear that one of the stores had given up without a fight, something they strongly denied.
William Kramer of Kramerbooks said Thursday, "No information about any customer has been turned over to any government agency or office including Mr. Starr's. I repeat, we have not turned over any information."
Sources familiar with the Starr investigation say they already knew what Lewinsky was reading from the search she permitted of her apartment. The real goal, CNN is told, is corroboration of alleged gifts and purchase dates.
Still, Starr's action triggered concern about personal privacy rights and that has galvanized booksellers nationwide.
"The constitutional harm here is the chilling effect on all of us, all readers, in terms of what we're free to read," said Ann Kapler, an attorney for the American Booksellers Association. "Why should we go into a bookstore and read books, get a list of books, if we think it's going to be free to the government to look into."
The government can justify subpoenaing records of almost any purchases, from CDs to recipes, simply claiming it as part of an investigation. So if you really don't want big brother to know what you're buying, pay cash.
CNN's Carl Rochelle contributed to this report.
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