A major difference between a subpoena and a search warrant, for purposes of the New Jersey Library Confidentiality Statute, (N.J.S.A. 18A:73-43.1 et seq.), is that subpoenas give you advance notice, and time to respond.

You can see a defective subpoena here.

An even worse subpoena here.

Here's what to look for:

- Each subpoena is captioned "subpoena duces tecum"
  in the upper right-hand corner. So far, so good.

- The first subpoena was issued on May 11, 2006, and directed the library to appear before
  a grand jury on May 16, 2006. According to this subpoena, the library director should
  have had five days to respond. But even this is an error: a subpoena is supposed to
  give you 10 days to respond, according to the New Jersey Rules of Court (R.4:17-7).

- It is not a "subpoena issued by a court." To the contrary, it is a fill-in-the-blank form.
  You can tell this is so because of the identical pre-printed signatures on both subpoenas.

- The police demanded the library records "immediately," treating it as a "forthwith
  subpoena," whereas the subpoena itself purports to be grand jury subpoena.

- Grand jury subpoenas are returnable to the prosecutor, not to the police. There was no
  grand jury investigation associated with either of these defective subpoenas.

- The second even worse subpoena is a fishing expedition, which would expose the
  reading habits of innocent library customers.