Pubdate: Fri, 03 Nov 2000
Source: Denver Post (CO)
Copyright: 2000 The Denver Post
Contact:  1560 Broadway, Denver, CO 80202
Fax: (303) 820.1502
Website: http://www.denverpost.com/
Forum: http://www.denverpost.com/voice/voice.htm
Author: Susan Greene, Denver Post Staff Writer

BOOKSTORE TO FIGHT ORDER TO OPEN RECORDS

Denver's Tattered Cover Book Store will appeal a court order demanding that 
it allow police to search a customer's purchase records as part of a 
narcotics investigation.

"This is about the right to privacy and the freedom to read what you like 
without police looking over your shoulder," said bookstore owner Joyce Meskis.

Meskis' appeal stems from a March 14 raid on an Adams County mobile home in 
which the North Metro Drug Task Force found a methamphetamine lab and two 
books on how to make the drug. Investigators also found a book-shipping 
envelope containing an invoice number from the Tattered Cover in Lower 
Downtown Denver.

Police snagged a search warrant for the invoice, hoping it would help them 
pinpoint which of the six people who frequented the mobile home bought the 
books and, presumably, operated the lab.

Meskis blocked police from combing through her store's records, saying the 
search violated the First Amendment freedom to read without interference 
from authorities.

"Customers want us to fight for their rights," she said Thursday.

But investigators say they're entitled to the invoice because it's 
necessary to solve their case.

"Books should be treated like any other piece of property," said Lt. Lori 
Moriarty, task force commander. "I don't know why this has to be a First 
Amendment issue."

On Oct. 20, Denver District Judge Stephen Phillips ordered that Meskis 
release the invoice - marking the first court decision of its kind nationwide.

Backed by the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, Meskis 
is appealing that order to the state Court of Appeals. Her lawyer, Dan 
Recht, immediately plans to bypass the appeals court by asking that the 
case be heard by the Colorado Supreme Court, which has a long history of 
protecting freedoms of expression.

Recht called the issue a "slippery slope," saying that handing over one 
Tattered Cover invoice could set a legal precedent allowing the government 
increasing access to information about what people are reading.

He added that drug investigators' demands for the invoice go too far in 
chipping away at customers' privacy.

"There have been significant infringements to civil liberties over the past 
decade, and those are due to a disturbing degree to the war on drugs," 
Recht said.
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