To many people it is not just a bad idea, it is one that feels fundamentally wrong. That means, whether in a bookstore, library or video store, that computerized records exist of which ideas a person has chosen to spend time with. Until that subpoena, bookstores had basically been off-limits to prosecutors. Not so libraries and video stores. In the 1980's, too, the Federal Bureau of Investigation sought to enlist librarians in an effort to track the reading habits of suspected agents of the Soviet Union, particularly when it involved technical works.
Video stores have their own special statute.
The officers said it was illegal to possess the film, which won an Academy Award in 1979, because it was child pornography under Oklahoma state law. His claim against the city for violation of Constitutional protections against search and seizure were rejected in the trial court. A year after the Oklahoma battle came Mr. Starr's subpoena of Ms. Lewinsky's book-buying records. Ms. Meskis does not seek an absolute privacy right in criminal investigations. Extensive, but not absolute.