On June 15, 2007, the ACLU presented the Roger Baldwin Medal of Liberty awards to four Connecticut librarians and the president of a New York Internet Service Provider (ISP) who stood up against the Patriot Act and refused to violate the privacy of their patrons and clients.
Representatives of Library Connection in Connecticut — Barbara Bailey, Peter Chase, George Christian and Janet Nocek — and a "John Doe" ISP received National Security Letters (NSLs) from the FBI but were gagged from revealing that the FBI had sought information from them. Instead of complying with the broad requests, which were issued without any judicial oversight, the librarians and John Doe joined the ACLU in separate legal challenges. The FBI has since dropped its gag order on the librarians, but continues to prevent the New York "John Doe" from speaking publicly.
Winners of the ALA Paul Howard Award for Courage.
