[RP TownTalk] Free speech, TownTalk, Electioneering

[Alan K. Thompson]

Dear List,

I'm going to try to respond to some recent posts regarding the
prohibition of electioneering on the town's e-mail lists.

To respond to Dwight and Adrianne's points that it would be nice to
have political discussions on the list, I couldn't agree more.  I
suggested early in the discussion of how to deal with electioneering
that a separate list be created for the purpose of discussing
elections (I know, I know, not *another* list), with ABSOLUTELY NO
RESTRICTIONS on it (other than "we won't edit the archives to reflect
what you 'meant' to say").  I thought that this would serve the dual
purposes of allowing vigorous and open political discussions while
allowing people who didn't want to listen to them to continue as they
were.  As I understand what happened at the council meeting (I could
not attend because my children were both sick with what I have now),
this idea was not presented to the council for consideration.  The
reason I asked that a policy (and I wasn't being picky about what
policy) be adopted by the council was so I wouldn't have to pretend I
was a lawyer and interpret town code, which seems to prohibit
electioneering on the e-mail lists.  The Town Council *can* still
clarify this before election season ends.

David Hiles' note brings up a lot of issues.   "Electioneering" is
defined, at dictionary.reference.com, as "persuasion of voters in a
political campaign".  So, if you read the code broadly (as I am doing,
to be safe) one wouldn't be able to discuss politics (at least with
the intent to persuade about the campaign) on the sidewalk, at the
Field of Dreams, or at Town Hall, without the permission of the Town
Council (although, to be honest, I think a better analogy to TownTalk
is not TALKing to someone on the sidewalk, but using a town-owned
public address system to TALK to a bunch of people gathered for some
other purpose, only some of whom would be interested).  I think the
ACLU would be happy to get involved if someone attempted to enforce
the "sidewalk" restriction, BUT nearly all campaign signs are planted
on private property (away from the town's right-of-way) the rally at
the Field of Dreams during the referendum DID require permission from
the Town Council, and most discussions of elections at Town Hall (at
least on camera) have been heavier on facts ("I am running") than on
persuasion ("Vote for me!").  That's because _minor restrictions_ of
free speech are allowed, if they serve some other purpose.  As it says
in my note announcing the policy, list members can send a note to
TownTalk that, with one click, takes the reader to an unabridged free
speech zone.  Just as people having to crane their necks a little to
see the signs isn't seen as a significant violation of free speech
rights, I doubt that a court would find the restrictions against
electioneering on TownTalk to be significant, given the low barrier to
getting to full free speech.

As a final note, as Journalist AJ Liebling said "Freedom of the press
is guaranteed only to those who own one".  If anyone on this list
wants to set up a "full free speech" e-mail list, then
groups.google.com or groups.yahoo.com (and probably a zillion other
sites) will allow you to do so, and you can advertise the "full free
speech" list on this one.

Sincerely,

Alan K. Thompson
Listmaster and Acting Webmaster
Town of Riverdale Park