>When I have a user who is getting out of hand I usually just set him/her nomail
>quietly.
 
 Sorry to keep this thread alive as it seems to have received quite
 a bit of coverage already.  I have not read all the posts so this
 may have been covered already.
 
 We have had two incidents here with people getting out of hand.
 One person evidently was making a career out of trashing lists.
 Our procedure is to first notify the person of what proper
 behavior is on the list and noting that they are not in compliance.
 If this continues they are notified to cease or their access to
 [log in to unmask] will be removed.
 
 One person did indeed test this and access was removed.  A threatening
 message was sent our President to the effect that such access be
 immediately restored or a first amendment suit would follow.  For
 those of you outside the US the first amendment to the U.S.
 Constitution concerns itself with free speech.
 
 Our legal counsel along with the counsel at another institution
 determined that listserv lists do not in general fall under the
 umbrella of the first amendment and do not constitute a forum
 for free speech.  They are in effect private forums under the
 jurisdiction of the listowner, the providing institution, and
 any local government laws that apply.  Basically one does not
 have rights on a list.
 
 I have subsequently talked with a law professor who specializes
 in the first amendment and he backed this interpretation up
 without hesitation.
 
 In a nutshell, trashing and disrupting lists here is viewed as a
 misuse of the resource which is grounds for losing the priviledge.
 
  --Jim Cocks  Univ. of Louisville  <[log in to unmask]>