BOOKSTORE TO FIGHT ORDER TO OPEN RECORDS

Denver's Tattered Cover Book Store will appeal a court order demanding that
it allow police to search a customer's purchase records as part of a
narcotics investigation.

"This is about the right to privacy and the freedom to read what you like
without police looking over your shoulder," said bookstore owner Joyce Meskis.

Meskis' appeal stems from a March 14 raid on an Adams County mobile home in
which the North Metro Drug Task Force found a methamphetamine lab and two
books on how to make the drug. Investigators also found a book-shipping
envelope containing an invoice number from the Tattered Cover in Lower
Downtown Denver.

Police snagged a search warrant for the invoice, hoping it would help them
pinpoint which of the six people who frequented the mobile home bought the
books and, presumably, operated the lab.

Meskis blocked police from combing through her store's records, saying the
search violated the First Amendment freedom to read without interference
from authorities.

"Customers want us to fight for their rights," she said Thursday.

But investigators say they're entitled to the invoice because it's
necessary to solve their case.

"Books should be treated like any other piece of property," said Lt. Lori
Moriarty, task force commander. "I don't know why this has to be a First
Amendment issue."

On Oct. 20, Denver District Judge Stephen Phillips ordered that Meskis
release the invoice - marking the first court decision of its kind nationwide.

Backed by the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, Meskis
is appealing that order to the state Court of Appeals. Her lawyer, Dan
Recht, immediately plans to bypass the appeals court by asking that the
case be heard by the Colorado Supreme Court, which has a long history of
protecting freedoms of expression.

Recht called the issue a "slippery slope," saying that handing over one
Tattered Cover invoice could set a legal precedent allowing the government
increasing access to information about what people are reading.

He added that drug investigators' demands for the invoice go too far in
chipping away at customers' privacy.

"There have been significant infringements to civil liberties over the past
decade, and those are due to a disturbing degree to the war on drugs,"
Recht said.