COLORADO COURT BACKS ANONYMOUS BOOK BUYS

DENVER-- The Colorado Supreme Court refused to order a bookstore yesterday
to tell police who bought two how-to books on making illegal drugs, saying
the First Amendment and state constitution protect the right to purchase
books anonymously.

The unanimous 6-0 decision overturns a ruling by a Denver judge who said
Tattered Cover Book Store owner Joyce Meskis must give records of the sale
to a Denver-area drug task force.

Police and prosecutors in the closely watched case had argued that the
buyer's identity was critical to their investigation of a methamphetamine
lab and that they had no other way to prove who owned the books.

The high court declared that the First Amendment and the Colorado
Constitution "protect an individual's fundamental right to purchase books
anonymously, free from governmental interference."

Chris Finan, president of the American Booksellers Foundation for Free
Expression, said the ruling makes Colorado law the most protective in the
nation of a bookseller's right to protect the identity of its customers.
Colorado's Supreme Court is the only one to rule on the issue, Finan said.

"It is a huge relief and just a thoughtful and well-reasoned decision by
the court for which we are very grateful," Meskis said.

Police sought the records after finding a mailer envelope from the
bookstore outside a mobile home they had raided. Inside the home were a
methamphetamine lab and the how-to books "Advanced Techniques of
Clandestine Psychedelic and Amphetamine Manufacture" by Uncle Fester and
"The Construction and Operation of Clandestine Drug Laboratories" by Jack
B. Nimble.

The envelope was printed with an invoice number and the trailer's address,
but no name. Police found no fingerprints on the books and obtained a
search warrant to find out who ordered them. Police suspected the man who
lived in the master bedroom where the lab was found but needed proof.

The court said yesterday that the search warrant should never have been issued.

Tattered Cover, one of the country's largest independent bookstores, had
argued that the order violated its customers' First Amendment rights. It
was assisted in the case by the American Booksellers Foundation for Free
Expression.

So far, no arrests have been made in the drug case pending the outcome of
the court challenge.

Bob Grant, who as the district attorney in adjacent Adams District refused
to go after a search warrant forcing police to go to the Denver district
attorney, said the ruling sets a higher standard than the one established
by the U.S. Supreme Court.

He said the ruling will force prosecutors to show a compelling need, as
opposed to just the "substantial and legitimate interest" required in most
states.

Prosecutors could still go back to court with more evidence to meet the
higher standard.