Re: SPECIAL REPORT: Censorware in the Stacks

"William H. Geiger III" writes:

In , on 12/22/97 at 11:26 PM, dlv@bwalk.dm.com (Dr.Dimitri Vulis KOTM) said:

...

berezina@qed.net (Paul Spirito) writes:

...

...

On Mon, 22 Dec 1997 10:04:47 -0800, David Honig wrote:

...

Note that if the library in question were not arm of the State, noone would have any First Amendment claim.

This is reminiscent of TM's recent (controversial) analysis of the fired county trashworker/author, and suggests a clearer example of the confusion caused by State as = Employer:

It's true that in the absence of public libraries this would not be an issue; however, it is an example of the state acting as sovereign, not employer. We're concerned with the right of patrons to access material, & they are not state employees. The situation is analogous to a public = park: just because the state owns it, does that mean it can forbid, say, = criticism of the state in it? No, of course not, though it has broader discretion = in limiting the speech of public employees in the park, while on-duty.

...

Why should any state be in the business of owning and running any parks? We pay $60/year for a family membership in an excellent private park. Most public parks in NYC are extremely unpleasant and dangerous places.

I find it quite amazing that anyone would live in a place where you had to pay to see grass and trees.

I pay (the NYC+NYS income taxes) for the right to see the grass and the trees in Central Park. I haven't been there in years, but I hear every once in a while about folks getting robbed, raped, and killed there. My late mother was involved with the Central Park conservancy, so I know that unbelieavable amounts of $$$ from taxes and private donations are used for patronage jobs or get stolen outright. If it were up to me, I'd have the fucking thing paved over/filled up and developed into lots of rental apartment units and a few manageably small privatized parks. The $60/annum we pay for the garden membership is a tiny fraction of the taxes we pay; and we get a huge park with french-style flower beds, and an english- style forest, a fish pond, one of the best rose gardens in the country, etc - more stuff that one can see in a single day. The kids love it. I think it's an excellent bargain, and less than we spend occasionally on a single dinner. --- Dr.Dimitri Vulis KOTM Brighton Beach Boardwalk BBS, Forest Hills, N.Y.: +1-718-261-2013, 14.4Kbps