I'm not a legal scholar by any means, but this 1st amendment stuff could get
out of hand rather easily, as there are misfits everywhere. I think, though,
that the legal case of our latest net.misfit would flounder precisely because
he has already had a perfect opportunity to speak out. People with an interest
in pursuing further discussion with net.misfit can contact him privately -
there is no obstacle. And, setting up his own mailing list should not be hard
for net.misfit. I myself have always thought that people with so much to say
that they dominate (or want to dominate) a forum, should simply set up their
own forum. It's easy to get a forum going. Then, with their own forum, they
can mention to existing forums 'I have set up a new forum for [some angle of
topic]'.
 
Also, remember that print media, without running afoul of the 1st, always
block content due to space and thematic limitations. A mailing list is not
infinite, as the members have not an infinite amount of time to read. The
owner should decide when to cut someone off.
 
Carl