BOOKSTORE PRIVACY IS UPHELD

DENVER -- The Colorado Supreme Court refused to order a bookstore Monday 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 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.

But 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.

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,
along with the name of one of the residents. 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 Monday 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. Police on Monday said charges would still be filed
against the suspect without the store's records.

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.

Sue Armstrong, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of
Colorado, said the ruling does not prohibit police from getting records but
sets the bar higher for obtaining a search warrant.

"The court has showed its best face in protecting the rights of privacy for
those of us who visit bookstores," Armstrong said.

Bookstore records became an issue in 1998 during the investigation of
President Clinton's relationship with Monica Lewinsky. Independent counsel
Ken Starr subpoenaed Lewinsky's purchase records from the Washington
bookstore Kramerbooks. After Kramerbooks challenged the subpoena,
Lewinsky's defense team voluntarily turned over the records.

In another case, a Borders bookstore in Overland Park, Kan., successfully
fought a subpoena issued in a drug investigation for records of how a
customer paid for merchandise. Investigators were not trying to find out
what books the customer bought.