The DOJ’s web site states that Section 215 of the PATRIOT Act “[a]llows federal agents to ask a court for an order to obtain business records in national security terrorism cases.” The site suggests again and again that Section 215 concerns only “business records.” In fact, Section 215 authorizes the FBI to order any organization to turn “any tangible thing” over to the government. The provision is much broader than the DOJ now admits.

The FBI could use Section 215 to demand:

» personal belongings, such as books, letters, journals, or computers

» a list of people who have visited a particular Web site

» medical records, including psychiatric records

» a list of people who have borrowed a particular book from a public library

» a membership list from an advocacy organization like Greenpeace, the Federalist Society, or the ACLU

» a list of people who worship at a particular church, mosque, temple, or synagogue

» a list of people who subscribe to a particular periodical

In fact, at a June 2003 hearing before the House Judiciary Committee, the Attorney General himself boasted that the FBI could use the law even to obtain genetic information. The DOJ misleads the public by repeatedly referring to the law as a “business records” provision.

analysis by ACLU national staff attorney Jameel Jaffer

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