At 6:15 AM 5/13/96, E. ALLEN SMITH wrote:

From: IN%"tcmay@got.net" 13-MAY-1996 00:55:07.93

...

Actually, one _does_ check one's Constitutional rights "at the door" (of an employer), and the confusion over this issue is pervasively destroying real Constitutional rights.

...

For instance, if I hire someone, I can require him or her to wear a uniform, to not wear blue jeans to work, to not smoke (or even to smoke, if this is what the job involves), to take off his or her clothes, to tap dance, to not say anything to my customers, and on and on. If the government required these behaviors, this would be a legitimate issue, but not if employers set these conditions as terms of continued employment.

In general, I agree... but one important point to make is the contract. If the contract says that you can require the employee to tap dance, then you can require the employee to tap dance. If the contract _doesn't_ require the

Sure, I agree that _contracts_ can make a difference. But note that contracts are not a requirement of employment: I can, for example, hire someone to rake my leaves. If he decides that manual labor violates his "civil rights," I can give him the boot. No muss, no fuss, no contracts. (But contracts are of course possible. Enforcement of the terms is another matter. By the way, I think enforcement of such contracts should be handled outside the normal legal system, and paid for by the parties using the system.) --Tim Boycott "Big Brother Inside" software! We got computers, we're tapping phone lines, we know that that ain't allowed. ---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---- Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money, tcmay@got.net 408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA | knowledge, reputations, information markets, Licensed Ontologist | black markets, collapse of governments. "National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."