POLICE SEEK RECORD OF A BOOKSTORE'S PATRONS

DENVER, Nov. 22 - In the course of raiding an illegal methamphetamine
laboratory in a trailer home last March in the Denver suburb of Thornton,
agents of a local drug task force found two books, "Advanced Techniques of
Clandestine Psychedelic and Amphetamine Manufacture" by an author named
Uncle Fester and "The Construction and Operation of Clandestine Drug
Laboratories" by Jack B. Nimble.

Outside the trailer, the agents found an envelope from one of Denver's most
cherished retailers, the Tattered Cover Bookstore, in which they believe
the books were mailed to one of the occupants.

Investigators believe that if they can tie up one loose end - confirming
that the books were received by the person named on the envelope - they can
be certain the recipient was the laboratory owner and they can arrest him.
Lt. Lori Moriarty, the task force commander, said that would "turn a
probable cause case into proof beyond reasonable doubt."

And the surest way to do that, Lieutenant Moriarty added, is by retrieving
the sales record from Tattered Cover, which investigators have tried
through a search warrant.

But using sales receipts of books to solve a crime has raised concerns
among booksellers, publishers and privacy groups, who are watching the case
closely for its implications on the First Amendment's rights of free speech
and privacy. Because of this, the store owner, Joyce Meskis, has refused to
comply with the warrant, arguing that customers, even suspected felons,
have a right to privacy no matter the subject of the books they buy.

"This is about access to private records of the book-buying public," Ms.
Meskis said in her office at the store. "If buyers thought that their
records would be turned over to the government, it would have a chilling
affect on what they buy and what they read."

Lieutenant Moriarty said investigators had identified six suspects in the
case, four of whom they believe lived in the trailer at the time of the
raid and were later evicted. Only one of the six was arrested, on a weapons
charge, but the other five are free. Because of a lack of other evidence,
Lieutenant Moriarty said, investigators are not certain which of the
suspects actually owned the illegal laboratory.

That is why they need the sales records, she said, to start what
investigators believe could be a string of arrests. None of the suspects
have been identified by the authorities.

But Ms. Meskis's lawyer, Daniel N. Recht, said that the search warrant,
which initially sought all records over a 30-day period involving the buyer
of the two books, amounted to nothing more than "a fishing expedition" that
would prove little even if records confirmed that the books had arrived in
the envelope.

Ms. Meksis, offering a rationale for the purchase of sensitive or
controversial material, said, "Just because I buy material on the Third
Reich doesn't make me a Nazi skinhead."

Mr. Recht won a temporary restraining order to stop the search. A hearing
followed, and last month Judge J. Stephen Phillips of Colorado District
Court ruled that the government's request for a month of records was too
broad. But the judge said investigators had a right to see any records that
would confirm that one of the suspects was the buyer of the two books.

Today, Mr. Recht filed an appeal of Judge Phillips's ruling with the
Colorado Court of Appeals.

Until now, the most prominent case involving efforts to obtain bookstore
records involved Kenneth W. Starr, the independent counsel investigating
President Clinton, who used a subpoena in 1998 in an effort to learn what
books Monica Lewinsky had bought from Kramerbooks & afterwords in
Washington. Mr. Starr's effort was blocked when a federal judge ruled that
the request was too broad, and later, it became moot when Ms. Lewinsky
agreed to cooperate with Mr. Starr's office.

Theresa Chmara, counsel for the American Booksellers Foundation for Free
Expression, a nonprofit group in Washington, said a case similar to the one
here was under way near Kansas City, Kan., where the authorities were
trying to obtain records of sales from three Borders bookstores in a drug
investigation.

"It all comes down to a First Amendment issue, the right to free speech,
the right to receive information," Ms. Chmara said of all three cases.
"There may be lots of reasons people read books. There also may be lots of
people who read these two books who never come near an amphetamine lab."

Lawyers for the task force are arguing that the case has nothing to do with
First Amendment issues. In court papers, they argued that investigators
have no interest in the suspect's "thoughts or reading materials, per se."

"But they are interested," the lawyers wrote, "in conclusively establishing
the identity of the person who was operating a meth lab - an activity which
is neither legal nor protected under the First or any other constitutional
amendment."

Ms. Meskis said the public reaction to her legal stance had been
overwhelming, with hundreds of phone calls and e-mail messages urging her
to stand firm.

"Since the Kramerbooks case," she said, "we have learned as booksellers
that the First Amendment needs to be protected. We know now that we have
options, and we just don't turn over anything without going through the
entire process."