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March 27, 1998
Starr Subpoena Condemned as First Amendment Violation
For Immediate Release
Starr Subpoena Condemned as First Amendment Violation
NEW YORK, N.Y., March 25, 1998�The American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression today condemned Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr for compelling a Washington, D.C., bookstore to reveal information about books purchased by Monica Lewinsky. "Mr. Starr�s subpoena of the records of an individual�s book purchases has serious First Amendment consequences. If the government can find out what books we are buying, we will no longer feel free to buy the books we want. That would be the death of free speech," Christopher Finan, president of the Foundation, said.
On Monday, the Office of the Independent Counsel issued a subpoena to Kramerbooks & Afterwords, an independent bookstore, requesting records of Ms. Lewinsky�s purchases. After negotiating with the prosecutor to narrow the scope of the original request, the bookstore reluctantly agreed to cooperate.
Finan said that he feared the Kramerbooks subpoena would establish a precedent that would allow Starr and other prosecutors to routinely issue subpoenas to booksellers for the records of their customers� purchases. The result would be that customers would enter bookstores wondering whether the government would find out what books, magazines and other material they buy.
They might also fear that their reading habits would be revealed to the public. An article in the Washington Post identified one book that Lewinsky allegedly purchased.
Finan said that Starr had failed to recognize that a bookstore is not just another business: bookstores give substance to First Amendment rights by providing an environment for the free exchange of ideas. "Government subpoenas poison the atmosphere of bookstores and seriously erode the First Amendment freedom of all Americans," he said.
The American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression was established by the American Booksellers Association in 1990 to promote and protect the free expression of ideas.
For further information, contact Finan at (212) 587-4025.
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