Opposition To Patriot Act
Most recently, Horn has been outspoken in her opposition to the provisions of the Patriot Act concerning library surveillance, and allowing the FBI to obtain a warrant from a secret court for library or bookstore records of anyone connected to an investigation concerning terrorism or spying. Interviewed at age 84 by the San Francisco Chronicle, Horn was asked about the FBI's monitoring of America's libraries. Horn said that her first thought was: "Here we go again." Horn has criticized the law on grounds that it does not require any showing that evidence of wrongdoing is likely to be found or that the target of its investigation is involved in a crime. A librarian could be served with a warrant and must surrender records of the patron's book borrowing or Internet use and is prohibited from revealing the search to anyone — including the patron. Horn has encouraged librarians to protest against the Patriot Act by refusing to comply. She noted: "They have (another) option, the option I took, to say this is not appropriate, this is not ethical in the library profession. It undermines the very essence of what a publicly supported library is."
Read more about this topic: Zoia Horn
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