So why would Aschroft do this?

[widebody911]

http://www.buzzflash.com/alerts/04/08/ale04025.html

Ashcroft Tells Libraries to Destroy Citizen-Friendly Publications

Statement regarding DOJ request for removal of government publications by depository libraries

The 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 these 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 Procedure; Select Criminal Forfeiture Forms; Select Federal Asset Forfeiture Statutes; Asset forfeiture and money laundering resource directory; and 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ALA has submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for the withdrawn materials in order to obtain an official response from the Department of Justice regarding this unusual action, and why the Department has requested that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.

[SteveStromberg]

Please post an addition source as I just did a search and found nothing. I think it a hoax or misinformation

[widebody911]

http://www.lisnews.com/article.pl?sid=04/07/23/1022250

Ah, and in my search, it looks like they ended up pulling the order after a lot of complaints and questions about the nature of the order.

http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA441047?display=breakingNews

But, if nobody had questioned it, they would have got away with it...

[turbocarrera]

someone's search skills really suck..

[Hugh R]

I'm a conservative (fiscally, not socially) and if true, I find that appalling. Its like the drug forfeiture laws, they take your stuff before you've had due process, then make you spend other money (if they didn't take it first) in order to get your stuff back. The government needs to stick to what they're supposed to do; defend the borders, build road and other things like water and sewage treatment plants and get out of the "We know what's best for you" mentality. This applies to both the Dems and the Reps.

[Moneyguy1]

Hugh:

Well put. I am in the same boat; fiscally conservative.

It is difficult to get the point across that one can be conservative on some things and not on others.

[BlueSkyJaunte]

Word.

[djmcmath]

Isn't there some correlation between burning books and burning people? Something like "Where there are books burnt, it is not too long until bodies are burnt as well?" Not to make another Hitler comparison. ...

Dan

[tabs]

I'm a fking commie rat pinko socially...well almost...but on fiscal mattersand GUN CONTROL...I'm to the right of Attilla the HUn.... I'm for christs sake a Life Member of the NRA.....

[john70t]

"Law" is a big shade of grey.
For now, we're better off than 90% of the world in terms of true "justice", but it's still dependant on effort, money, and connections, as it will probably always be.

[Kevin Powers]

my understanding is asscroft has uncontrollable erections as well. hense the covering of the bare breasted statue.