freedomforum.org: Federal judge quashes subpoena for Kansas bookstore's sales records

[Jim Choate]

On Wed, 14 Feb 2001, Sampo Syreeni wrote:

> But why should this be limited to the book stores? The same should go for
> laudries etc.

Where is:

Congress shall make no law respecting the laundering of a persons
personals.


Ain't there, you're blowing smoke.

> In this sense we *are* talking about privileges to those
> dealing with 1st Amendment protected material, like the press and book
> stores.

No, in no sense are we talking about the store other than as a mechanism
for the execution by the book buyer (ain't that part of 'press'?) of
their protected activities. By infringing the store you infringe the
protected activities. Hence they wouldn't be protected, therefore the
initial action against the store can't be allowed.

Putting a 'tax' on owning a press would be identical. Are you saying that
taxing the simple ownership of a press should be allowed? That it would
not infringe the 1st?

> Declan's problem obviously is that while free speech has constitutional 
> protection in itself, here *privacy* is protected only via
> extension of the 1st Amendment protection. This isn't enough.

There is NO issue of 'privacy' per se in this. The issue is that speech
and press (which includes reading same) are protected activities under the
1st. Publishing a book is not a 'private' activity (at least not in the
sense you use the word - remember 'private' has TWO (2) definitions, just 
like juicy-fruit.

Is your claim the 1st is based on a 'privacy' argument? I'd like to hear
it.

As to 'privacy' refer to to the 4th, 5th, 9th, & 10th to understand why
the 'privacy' argument as tendered by Declan and others is so full of
holes it'd make good Swiss cheese.

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