Being citizens of this great country, we are always concerned about the usurping of rights by any government or quasi-government agency.
Being publishers of a newspaper, we are especially concerned when the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution appears to be disregarded. Nothing is more sacred to the newspaper industry than that first of the ten Bill of Rights.
But there is much more to the Bill of Rights than the freedom of the press, and freedom of religion, which are the two parts we hear most about. Also contained in that brief statement of basic rights is the right to assemble.
The right to assemble was, like many provisions, argued at length by the founders of this nation. The Bill of Rights itself was addressed and debated until those founders eventually decided on what would be in that very basic statement of rights.
The right to assemble was closely tied to the right to petition, and we think, should be looked at closely by those who now sit on the Delta County Library Board. For it is our opinion that they have attempted to undermine what the Constitution expressly recognizes as a right of the free people of the United States.
By telling the Republican Women that they could not meet in the library meeting room if they were going to discuss certain topics, or allow certain speakers a venue, the board has in effect violated the First Amendment, and their violation, we believe has already been specifically addressed by the Supreme Court.
Hague v. Committee for Industrial Organization is a 1939 case decided by the Supreme Court. The case involved New Jersey Mayor Frank “Boss” Hague, who in 1937 denied the CIO a meeting place in a public meeting area to stop them from giving out literature pertaining to their agenda. Two lower courts decided in favor of the CIO, who initiated the suit based on the violation of the First Amendment to freedom of assembly. Hague appealed, but lost the appeal, leaving the ordinances he made use of unconstitutional and void.
In the above decision, the Court specifically refers to the right to assemble for “the communication of views on national interest.”
The Library Board, it is alleged, (see relative article in this issue) told the Republican Women that they could not meet if they were going to be partisan, and pointed out that the group’s allowing Bill Snyer to present his views on global warming, or more accurately the lack thereof, was in violation of the rules pertaining to the use of the meeting area. We know Snyer’s topic is controversial, and so do most other people in the nation. If that topic does not fall under the heading of “national interest” then we do not know what topic would.
We cannot help but believe that the librarian in this case does have access to a copy of the Constitution of the United States, but we would be more than happy to provide her with one, should she need it.
