>But the latest round is from a group of people (about
>15) who seem to think that the First Amendment extends to my list and that
>they can post anything they want to the list about anything -- the most
>recent being that the formed a "church" on my list and have been
>essentially spamming the list with prayers. I suspended posting privileges
>but others come along and post the messages for those people and add
>personal attacks against me. There are about 225 other people who are not
>involved in this.

I would set the offenders on REVIEW or remove them.  I would likewise set
those who pass on their message on REVIEW, or remove _them_ as well.

>Yesterday someone posted this message to the list
>> This is an open forum.  Everyone who posts to this list server (as of
>> this date anyway, the topic is under discussion by interested parties)
>> is covered by his or her First Amendment Rights of the United States
>> Constitution!

This is nonsense.  The First Amendment only protects one's right of free
speech from abridgement _by the governement_; it most emphatically does not
guarantee anyone the podium and bullhorn of their choice.  I'd
unhesitatingly advise anyone pursuing this line of reasoning to write their
Congressman or talk to the ACLU.  If there were a shred of merit to this
way of thinking, Random House would be running afoul of constitutional law
every time they rejected a manuscript.

>I understood that I'd have some problems to deal with when I started the
>list and I think I've done reasonably well with them until now, but I'm
>looking for some suggestions on how I an tell the people on the list that
>there are no First Amendment privileges on my list because it is a
>privately run and privately funded enterprise without alienating the people
>that I want to keep on the list.

Simple: just tell them.  It's a simple fact.


--
Lefty [gYon-Pa] <[log in to unmask]>
C:.M:.C:., D:.O:.D:.