Privacy in Used Books Sales
Earlier this year, federal prosecution had tried to get a U.S. Magistrate Judge in Wisconsin to approve a subpoena compelling Amazon.com to disclose the identity of thousands of people who bought used books online. They were investigating former Madison public official Robert D’Angelo, who was indicted on charges that he ran a used book business and did not report the proceeds as income.
Judge Stephen Crocker turned down the request, ruling that there is a First Amendment right to keep your reading habits private. “The subpoena is troubling,” Crocker wrote, “because it permits the government to peak into the reading habits of specific individuals without their knowledge or permission…. It is an unsettling and un-American scenario to envision federal agents nosing through the reading lists of law-abiding citizens while hunting for evidence against someone else.”