Pubdate: Tue, 09 Apr 2002
Source: Denver Post (CO)
Copyright: 2002 The Denver Post Corp
Contact:  http://www.denverpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/122
Author: Howard Pankratz and Jenn Kostka

COURT RULES FOR BOOKSTORE

Tattered Cover Doesn't Have To Turn Over Records In Meth-Lab Probe

Tuesday, April 09, 2002 - The Colorado Supreme Court refused Monday to 
force the Tattered Cover Book Store to turn over sales records to aid in a 
drug investigation, saying that both the U.S. and Colorado constitutions 
protect an individual's fundamental right to purchase books anonymously.

In March 2000, the North Metro Drug Task Force tried to obtain book- 
purchasing records of a suspected methamphetamine lab operator. Members of 
the task force had recovered a Tattered Cover mailer outside the lab, set 
up in an Adams County mobile home, and recovered two "how-to" meth books 
inside the trailer. Officials said they needed the information to identify 
the lab operator.

In a ruling with national implications, Justice Michael Bender said 
law-enforcement officials impinge on individuals' rights when they seek 
customer records from innocent, third-party booksellers.

In the 6-0 opinion, the court said the ruling doesn't preclude law 
enforcement from ever getting the records, particularly when the records 
don't involve the contents of the books. But Bender wrote that before such 
records are ordered turned over, law-enforcement officials must 
"demonstrate a compelling governmental need" for the records. Bender added 
that any time law-enforcement officials want to execute a search warrant on 
a bookstore in Colorado, the bookstore is entitled to a hearing to 
challenge the action.

The case was the first of its kind decided by a state supreme court.

"I think the decision will be upheld as the decision to go to when other 
courts confront this issue," said Dan Recht, lawyer for the bookstore.

Steve Zansberg, who filed a brief on behalf of the Tattered Cover for a 
host of organizations, agreed the 51-page opinion will be a "bellwether 
opinion for other states to follow."

The North Metro Drug Task Force plans to gather the remainder of evidence 
it has on the meth lab where the books were found, then will obtain arrest 
warrants next week for as many as five people, said Lt. Lori Moriarty.

"The piece of information we were seeking here was critical, but we will go 
forward with the case as best we can," Moriarty said during a news 
conference in Thornton. "The ruling today, I feel, puts another hurdle in 
front of law enforcement when we're trying to prosecute."

The task force has not decided whether to appeal the ruling, but Recht said 
that no appeal is possible because the state Supreme Court is the final 
arbiter on matters related to the state constitution.

Justice Bender said the case revolved around the rights of Americans to 
read whatever they want without fear the government is looking over their 
shoulders.

"We recognize that both the United States and Colorado constitutions 
protect an individual's fundamental right to purchase books anonymously, 
free from governmental interference," Bender said. "Bookstores are places 
where a citizen can explore ideas, receive information, and discover the 
myriad perspectives on every topic imaginable. When a person buys a book at 
a bookstore, he engages in activity protected by the First Amendment 
because he is exercising his right to read and receive ideas and information."

Denver attorney Bruce Jones, who filed a brief in support of the bookstore 
on behalf of the American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado, said the 
ruling was written "with a breadth of analysis that will extend beyond just 
Colorado just because of how thorough and careful and persuasively the 
court presented its analysis."

Joyce Meskis, owner of the Tattered Cover, said the decision is not only a 
victory for readers and book purchasers in Colorado but also "an important 
precedent for readers, bookstores and library patrons throughout the 
country." They can now look to Colorado law for "guidance when the First 
Amendment rights of readers collide with the desires of enforcement," she said.

In Monday's opinion, Bender noted that the First Amendment protects more 
than simply the right to speak freely. He said the amendment safeguards a 
wide spectrum of activities, including the right to distribute and sell 
expressive materials and the right to receive information, as in the 
Tattered Cover case.

These rights, he said, are necessary to the uninhibited exercise of the 
specifically enumerated right of "freedom of speech." Without the right to 
receive information and ideas, he said, the protection of free speech would 
be meaningless.

Andrew Nathan, the lawyer who sought the records on behalf of the city of 
Thornton and the North Metro Drug Task Force, said that "we now have a set 
standard about how to go about getting these records.

"The Supreme Court . . . has given us a blueprint," Nathan said.

The task force seized 73 methamphetamine labs in Adams County last year, 
and 38 through March of this year. "Meth labs are a high concern for us 
because of the dangers they create," Lt. Moriarty said.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom