Free Expression

More Good New for Retailers from Ernst & Young, Consumer Confidence Index This past month, consumer survey after consumer survey has predicted that this will be a banner holiday selling season for retailers -- Ernst & Young's 2003 Holiday Sales Forecast is no different. It anticipates that the 2003 retail holiday sales increases for November and December will be 5.2 percent -- compared to a 3.4 percent increase for the same period last year.

The American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE) sent letters dated November 14 to Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Orrin Hatch (R-UT) expressing the belief that Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act "will create a chilling effect on the exercise of First Amendment rights." The letters were included in the record of the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, "America After 9/11: Freedom Preserved or Freedom Lost?" which was held Tuesday, November 18. Leahy is the ranking member, and Hatch the chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Dear Booksellers, Congressman Bernie Sanders needs your help today. He is trying to win approval for an amendment that denies funds for conducting searches of bookstore and library records under the USA Patriot Act. Although Sanders initially failed to get this amendment added to the Justice Department's appropriations bill in July, he was successful in attaching it to another spending measure. He is now trying to make sure that the amendment is included in the final appropriations bill that is negotiated with the Senate.

The American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE) is urging booksellers to add their store names to the growing list of those endorsing the Book and Library Community Statement Supporting The Freedom to Read Protection Act (H.R. 1157); The Library and Bookseller Protection Act (S. 1158); and The Library, Bookseller, and Personal Data Privacy Act (S. 1507).

Another Poll Predicts Happy Holidays for Retailers If predictions equal sales, then this holiday season will be an extremely profitable one for retailers. The Gallup Organization recently released a new Gallup Poll, conducted November 3 - 5, that indicated consumer optimism is now "at its highest level in more than 18 months" and that "consumer spending intentions are more positive than they have been at any point since 9/11."

The King County Council of Seattle is presently considering a resolution to oppose any amendments in the USA Patriot Act that it deems to infringe on the constitutional rights of its citizens -- including Patriot Act amendments that allow for invasion of privacy, expanded government surveillance, and denial of due process, as reported by the Seattle Times.

On Thursday, November 6, Madison, Wisconsin's Rainbow Bookstore Cooperative and a local newsweekly were able to convince Madison Area Technical College (MATC) to reverse its decision to impose restrictions on a speaking event about the Middle East, featuring noted writer and University of Chicago researcher Ali Abunimah. MATC had attempted to limit the scope of the talk and to deny Rainbow's request to sell books in conjunction with the event after some residents protested the talk due to Abunimah's pro-Palestinian point-of-view.

The American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE) is urging booksellers to add their store names to the Book and Library Community Statement Supporting The Freedom to Read Protection Act (H.R. 1157); The Library and Bookseller Protection Act (S. 1158); and The Library, Bookseller, and Personal Data Privacy Act (S. 1507). ABFFE is hoping that all ABA member stores will sign the statement, which is posted at www.bookweb.org/read/6565.

On Monday, November 3, a coalition of free speech groups led by the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE) filed an amicus brief in support of the American Civil Liberties Union's (ACLU) legal challenge to Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act. The ACLU filed its lawsuit in July 2003 in Detroit federal court on behalf of six nonprofit organizations that provide a wide range of religious, medical, social, and educational services to various communities around the country.

The Association of American Publishers (AAP), the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE), and a broad coalition of free speech groups went to court to defend Americans' right to parody and satirize public officials without fear of being sued for defamation. On Tuesday, November 4, the groups filed an amicus brief in support of the Dallas Observer, an alternative newsweekly that is being sued for libel by two elected officials for a satirical article it published in November 1999.