Pubdate: Thu, 06 Dec 2001
Source: Denver Post (CO)
Copyright: 2001 The Denver Post Corp
Contact:  http://www.denverpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/122
Author: Howard Pankratz

JUSTICES WEIGH READERS' RIGHTS

Police Seeking Purchase Records From Bookstore

Thursday, December 06, 2001 - If the Tattered Cover Book Store is 
forced to reveal who ordered books sent to an illegal methamphetamine 
lab, the action will have a far-reaching negative impact on readers, 
the Colorado Supreme Court was told Wednesday.

"At stake in this case are the First Amendment rights of every 
bookstore and library patron in the state of Colorado to read without 
fear," Tattered Cover lawyer Dan Recht told seven justices during 
arguments.

But Andy Nathan, arguing for the North Metro Task Force, which raided 
the lab and found the books, said police want a single bookstore 
"business record," and that doesn't have the same First Amendment 
protection given other speech activities.

A Tattered Cover mailer envelope and invoice number were found 
outside an Adams County trailer in March 2000, a day before the 
trailer was raided and an illegal meth lab discovered. The task force 
is asking the bookstore to reveal the name of the person who ordered 
the books and the date the order was placed.

In the lab were two books, "Advanced Techniques of Clandestine 
Psychedelic and Amphetamine Manufacture" and "The Construction and 
Operation of Clandestine Drug Laboratories."

Investigators believe the books were shipped in the Tattered Cover 
mailer because the books fit into the envelope and Tattered Cover 
stocked the volumes.

But Recht said the bookstore never disclosed whether the books on 
illegal drug manufacturing were actually the ones shipped and said 
the two books didn't have the usual Tattered Cover stickers.

Nathan noted the bookstore itself has said in briefs that 
"methamphetamine is a scourge on both the national and local levels."

"We agree that meth is a scourge," Nathan said. "Meth labs pose 
serious dangers. They expose innocent neighbors to fires and 
explosions."

In this case, Nathan said, authorities know a crime was committed. 
Reading is not a crime, he said, but buying "how-to" books on 
manufacturing meth and then leaving them in the meth lab can be 
evidence of who committed the crime.

"If what we read today can result in a subpoena or a search warrant 
tomorrow, fear replaces freedom," Recht said. "We presented three 
witnesses who said there would, in fact, be a chilling effect if the 
Tattered Cover was forced to turn over the information."

In a meeting with Brighton High School students shortly before the 
Tattered Cover arguments were heard in the school auditorium, Mary 
Mullarkey, Supreme Court chief justice, said the Tattered Cover case 
and a second case heard Wednesday are "unique" because they concern 
the relative rights we have as Americans.

The second case was about a man sent to prison after he was 
discovered with crack cocaine in his pocket. The man was a passenger 
in a car stopped for a routine traffic investigation. The officer not 
only asked the driver for his identification but also the passenger. 
When the officer ran a computer check, he found the passenger had 
three outstanding warrants. The cocaine was found in a subsequent 
search. The man claims his arrest was illegal because police had no 
right to ask for his identification.

Both cases involve the constitutional "bounds and limits" on 
competing interests, Mullarkey said. For instance, said the chief 
justice, we have the right to read but at the same time expect police 
to provide for our safety.

"These are difficult and very close cases," she said. "Imagine 
yourself as the police officer or the person who ordered the books. 
These are important issues in conflict."
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MAP posted-by: Josh