The Patriot Act and Early ALA Action: Habermas, Strauss, or Derrida?

Introduction In the wake of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks the United States Congress passed special security and anti-terrorism legislation which included the USA Patriot Act. This legislation was renewed in 2006. In response to the passage of the Act in 2001 two Councils of the American Library Association (ALA) passed resolutions reaffirming the basic principles of that organization. The following is an account of how two early ALA Council resolutions CD 19.1 (Midwinter 2002) and CD 20.1. (Midwinter 2003) were drafted and brought to Council. (For the wording of the resolutions see Appendices 1 and 2). However, the following is more than an account of ALA Council deliberations. It is also a reflection upon the nature of political and social discourse and the fixing of meaning. It asks whether the deliberations of the ALA support Habermas's (1983, 1989) notions of an undistorted speech situation as that which should, or can, be an ideal for public deliberations, or Leo Strauss's (1952) views on the strategic use of silence, ambiguity and contradiction as necessary for important forms of dialogue and for political functioning or Derrida's (1976) assertion of infinitely delayed meaning. Methods Transcripts of the ALA Council Midwinter discussions of CD19.1 (American Library Association 2002) and of CD20.1 (American Library Association 2003) were requested from the ALA and reviewed. Also reviewed were minutes of the 2002 and 2003 Midwinter meeting of the Committee on Legislation (ALA Committee on Legislation 2002, ALA Committee on Legislation 2003) and minutes of the 2003 meeting of the Intellectual Freedom Committee (ALA Intellectual Freedom Committee 2003). Individuals identified as speaking at these deliberations, or who were recorded by name as having played some role in the formation of the resolutions, and for whom there was contact information in the ALA Handbook of Organization for 2001/2002, were contacted from November 2003 to January 2004 and asked to respond to a questionnaire concerning the proceedings. Each individual was asked to supply the names of others who, in their view, played an important role in the process and such individuals were then contacted, sent a questionnaire, and asked to supply more names. A total of sixteen individuals were contacted in regard to CD 19.1, of which four responded. Twenty-two individuals were contacted in connection with CD 20.1, of which seven responded. Most responded by email or with written comments. A small number preferred telephone interviews, in which the questionnaire was strictly followed. The respondents, although small in number, provided a rich supply of information on which to base the following account. One respondent emphasized the cooperation of the Intellectual Freedom Roundtable (IFRT) and the Intellectual Freedom Committee (IFC) in the drafting of CD 19.1. This person said that the issue originated in the IFRT where a draft resolution was produced and submitted to the Intellectual Freedom Committee which edited it and brought it, with IFRT co-sponsorhip, to the Council floor. Another individual also mentioned the Committee on Legislation (COL) but said that roundtables played a significant role. One individual stated, "SRRT, IFRT, IFC, COL. The first two are roundtables and they had the most input." The same individual stated that the Social Responsibilities Roundtable's (SRRT) input was accepted by the IFRT in its formulations but then adds that IFRT ultimately decided to write its own resolution rather than modify SRRT suggestions. Another individual, without going into origins and pathways, stated that there were conflicts and that, in her view, the roundtable suggestions were "partisan" and "extreme". She went on to say that the IFC rewrote the proposal to "move it toward a professional statement". Another respondent faults the SRRT as taking positions that were unlikely to garner support. This individual states "Other resolutions on the response to 9/11 were circulating before the conference. …