3 August 2004. Thanks to R. for pointing to this cancellation of DoJ document withdrawal:
http://listserv.access.gpo.gov/scripts/wa.exe?A2=ind0407&L=gpo-fdlp-l&F=&S=&P=3003
Date: Fri, 30 Jul 2004 16:03:06 -0400 Reply-To: GPO FDLP List <fdlp-l@gpo.gov> From: FDLP Listserv <fdlp-l@GPO.GOV> Subject: UPDATE: Withdrawal of Dept. of Justice Publications Rescinded As you know, on July 22, 2004, a notice was posted to FDLP-L advising depository libraries that the Department of Justice had requested the withdrawal of five publications that were intended for internal use only. In response to the Government Printing Office's further inquiry into this matter, the Department of Justice has requested that I advise depository libraries to disregard the previous instructions to withdraw these publications. In making this request, the Department of Justice said, although these materials were "intended only for the internal training use of Department of Justice personnel and, as such, were inappropriately distributed to depository libraries through an administrative oversight," the Department has determined that these materials are "not sufficiently sensitive to require removal from the depository library system." Since 1995, GPO has issued recall letters for 20 publications at the request of the publishing agencies. Seven of these publications were recalled because they were for official use or internal use only, as occurred in this instance. Both GPO and the Department of Justice regret any inconvenience resulting from the initial request for withdrawal. Judy Russell Judith C. Russell (jrussell@gpo.gov) Managing Director, Information Dissemination (Superintendent of Documents) U.S. Government Printing Office Phone: 202-512-0571 Fax: 202-512-1434
3 August 2004. Thanks to several for pointing to this issue.
The Department of Justice has directed that federal depository libraries remove and destroy five documents related to federal search and seizure:
http://www.buzzflash.com/alerts/04/08/ale04025.htmlThe following statement has been issued by President-Elect Michael Gorman, representing President Carol Brey-Casiano, who is currently in Guatemala representing the Association:
July 30, 2004
Statement from ALA President-Elect Michael Gorman:
Last week, the American Library Association learned that the Department of Justice asked the Government Printing Office Superintendent of Documents to instruct depository libraries to destroy five publications the Department has deemed not "appropriate for external use." The Department of Justice has called for these five public documents, two of which are texts of federal statutes, to be removed from depository libraries and destroyed, making their content available only to those with access to a law office or law library.
The topics addressed in the named documents include information on how citizens can retrieve items that may have been confiscated by the government during an investigation. The documents to be removed and destroyed include:
Civil and Criminal Forfeiture ProcedureSelect Criminal Forfeiture Forms
Select Federal Asset Forfeiture Statutes
Asset forfeiture and money laundering resource directory
Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform Act of 2000 (CAFRA)
ALA has submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for the withdrawn materials in order to obtain an official response from the Department of Justice regarding this unusual action, and why the Department has requested that documents that have been available to the public for as long as four years be removed from depository library collections. ALA is committed to ensuring that public documents remain available to the public and will do its best to bring about a satisfactory resolution of this matter.
Librarians should note that, according to policy 72, written authorization from the Superintendent of Documents is required to remove any documents. To this date no such written authorization in hard copy has been issued.
Keith Michael Fiels
Executive Director
American Library Association
(800) 545-2433 ext.1392
_____
Yesterday morning, Cryptome visited Lehman Library, the federal depository library at Columbia University, New York, NY, located in the School of International Affairs. The five documents are listed in Columbia's electronic library catalog but none were physically available.
The reference libarian was asked to check if the documents had been withdrawn in response to the DoJ directive -- which he said he was not familiar with. He went away to check on the documents and returned to report that two were issued as microfiche -- Civil and Criminal Forfeiture Procedures and Asset forfeiture and money laundering resource directory -- and the other three as paper documents. He said "they should be in the microfiche collection and on the shelves." Cryptome again checked the shelves and the microfiche cabinets. None were in their listed location, misfiled nearby, flagged as elsewhere, or on reading room tables. The librarian had no comment on their disappearance.
One of the documents -- Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform Act of 2000 (CAFRA) -- is available from Thomas, the House of Representatives online legislation resource. Earlier editions of another document -- Asset forfeiture and money laundering resource directory -- are available from a DoJ publications web site for May 1997, May 1998, and November 1998. The recalled July 2, 2004 edition is not there.
Cryptome welcomes copies of the four unavailable documents for publication here. Send to:
Fax: 212-787-6102
Mail: 251 West 89th Street, New York, NY 10024