The Rule of Law in Libraries

I saw this piece on slashdot. It’s about a librarian (Michele Reuty) who is coming under fire for — gasp! — insisting that police follow the laws of New Jersey and obtain a warrant before rifling through the records of a public library. Despite following the policies of the library and, you know, the law, she is being accused of being soft on criminals and of putting the library ahead of the needs of the police. The suspect sought had allegedly threatened a young girl, so the predictable cries — Think of the children! Oh, dear God, won’t somebody think of the children! — have sprung up.

What’s being lost, of course, is that Ms. Reutty did exactly what she was supposed to: She cooperated fully with the police within the confines of the law. She didn’t refuse to help them; she merely insisted on the correct procedure. That’s not heresy or immoral. It’s basic, sixth-grade-civics American liberty.

It’s also interesting to note the outcome, which is that the police did catch the bad guy. Because Ms. Reutty correctly stood up for the rights of her patrons, the defendant won’t be able to claim that the records were illegaly searched (which could conceivably have caused all such evidence to be thrown out). So in fact she aided the police and strengthened their case — for which the reflexive pro-intrusion camp wants to chastise her.

Meanwhile she has struck a blow for the lately much-dimished rule of law in the United States. No matter what the provocation, the interests of the citizenry are harmed when the police operate without constraint. After centuries of constant evolution, this nation has a solid and working set of principles for allowing the police to conduct searches and investigate crime. We gain nothing by jettisoning it — not for “the defense of children”, not for “the defense of the homeland”.

If it were in my power, I’d put her up for a Medal of Freedom.


Comments

One response to “The Rule of Law in Libraries”

  1. County Criminal Justice Center…

    I couldn’t understand some parts of this article, but it sounds interesting…

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