Yes, censorship is a legal issue and the post is entirely appropriate.
As with Paula Lichtenberg, I will not inject partisan politics into
the debate by speaking of things like Barack Obama's association with
the African-American equivalent (Reverand Wright) of a Klan Grand
Dragon, nor will I mention his association with the unrepentant
terrorist William "Bill" Ayers. But the attempts by the University of
Chicago via its Richard J. Daley Library to embargo documents relating
to Obama's relationship with the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, a
foundation where Ayers was a founder and guiding force, deserves,
indeed requires our concern as law librarians. This sorry saga is
well documented by Stanley Kurtz here:
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=MTgwZTVmN2QyNzk2MmUxMzA5OTg0ODZlM2Y2OGI0NDM=
-- Leslie Germaine Solo Practitioner Practicing WorldwideOn Thu, Sep 4, 2008 at 5:48 PM, Moller, Rachael Hope <rmoller@proskauer.com> wrote: > The post is entirely appropriate to a law librarian list-serve. Censorship > is legal issue because it has questionable legal (and moral) standing. One > can argue that is appropriate in certain circumstances... and we all know > this debate. Librarians provide access to resources and information in the > course of our jobs. Censorship is about the restriction of resources and > information. Obviously this pertains to our livelihoods. It certainly > pertained to the livelihood of the librarian in Wasilla. > > None of those statements are political or unreasonable. > > Rachael H. Moller | PROSKAUER ROSE LLP > Reference Librarian > 1585 Broadway | New York, NY 10036-8299 > V: 212.969.5019 F: 212.969.2900 > rmoller@proskauer.com | www.proskauer.com > > > ________________________________ > From: owner-law-lib@ucdavis.edu [mailto:owner-law-lib@ucdavis.edu] On Behalf > Of Jim Milles > Sent: Thursday, September 04, 2008 5:09 PM > To: Stephanie Huthmacher > Cc: Frye, Nanna; Library; law-lib@ucdavis.edu > Subject: [LAW-LIB:56545] RE: Sarah Palin and Libraries > > *sigh* > > This "issue" comes up every election year... > > We're all professionals here, and we're all adults. We may disagree, but > over the years we've generally disagreed in a civil fashion. Politics is > important, and this election in particular presents a very clear choice--if > you don't think so, no matter which side you come down on, you haven't been > paying attention. Trying to declare this listserv a politics-free zone is > both pointless and misguided. > > Jim Milles > > On Thu, Sep 4, 2008 at 4:51 PM, Stephanie Huthmacher <shuthmacher@lglaw.com> > wrote: >> >> Spoken like a true member of the legal profession… >> >> >> >> I, too, am a legal librarian. I find the banning of books repulsive and >> any intrusion into ones personal library records abhorrent. >> >> Perhaps if parents were to talk to their children, or pop their heads into >> their rooms once in a while, they could get an idea on what the kids are >> doing, rather than relying on the librarian to monitor behavior. >> >> >> >> If you don't like a book, don't read it – if you don't like a movie, don't >> watch it. No one holds a gun to anyone's heading forcing them to do >> anything they find offensive. Time to take responsibility for your own >> actions without impinging on the rights of others… >> >> >> >> >> >> Stephanie N. Huthmacher, MLS >> >> 42 Delaware Avenue, Suite 120 >> >> Buffalo, New York 14202-3924 >> >> Phone: 716.849.1333 ext. 330 >> >> Fax: 716.855.1580 >> >> E-mail: shuthmacher@lglaw.com >> >> >> >> >> >> ________________________________ >> >> From: owner-law-lib@ucdavis.edu [mailto:owner-law-lib@ucdavis.edu] On >> Behalf Of Frye, Nanna >> Sent: Thursday, September 04, 2008 4:42 PM >> To: Library; law-lib@ucdavis.edu >> Subject: [LAW-LIB:56539] RE: Sarah Palin and Libraries >> >> >> >> Ah, but you did inject partisan politics into it, Paula, by the manner >> in which you related these facts. Is anyone in doubt as to your position on >> Sarah Palin after reading your posting? You certainly did not supply both >> sides of the story. Reasonable minds could differ on the legislation you >> mentioned below on whether parents could learn about the books their >> children are borrowing from a library. If your teenage child has been moody >> and you discover a library book on suicide in the teenager's room, shouldn't >> you be able to find out if the child had borrowed other books on suicide? >> Many would say "yes." Was the censoring a blanket act that applied to >> adults and children or just to children? Are we talking about literary >> books or titillating junk novellas that Palin wanted to censor? Again, we >> don't have both sides of the story. After many, many years of working for a >> court, it is very rare when there are not two sides to a story. >> >> >> >> I will reserve judgment until I have ALL of the facts. I would prefer >> that we avoid political postings on law-lib about the presidential election >> even if they do allegedly deal with "library topics." >> >> Nanna Frye, Law Librarian >> Court of Appeal >> San Diego, CA >> >> >> >> >> >> ________________________________ >> >> From: owner-law-lib@ucdavis.edu [mailto:owner-law-lib@ucdavis.edu] On >> Behalf Of Library >> Sent: Thursday, September 04, 2008 10:54 AM >> To: law-lib@ucdavis.edu >> Subject: [LAW-LIB:56536] Sarah Palin and Libraries >> >> I know this isn't the place for partisan politics and I'm not going to >> discuss what I think of Sarah Palin's positions on abortion or foreign >> policy or whether polar bears belong on the Endangered Species Act. But she >> did try to censor books in the Wasilla Public Library and she did try to >> fire the librarian for not agreeing to do so. And she did support a bill in >> the legislature that would have forced librarians to tell parents what books >> their children had checked out of the library. >> >> I thought, as librarians, you might want to know her position on libraries >> and censorship. >> There is a well documented anti-Palin librarian's web site that discusses >> this. issues:http://librariansagainstpalin.wordpress.com/ >> >> Paula Lichtenberg, Librarian >> Keker & Van Nest LLP, San Francisco > > > -- > Jim Milles > Vice Dean for Legal Information Services and Director of the Law Library > Professor of Law > University at Buffalo Law School > 208 O'Brian Hall, Buffalo, NY 14260 > (716) 645-2089, jgmilles@buffalo.edu > http://ClaimID.com/jmilles > http://www.retaggr.com/Card/jmilles > > ********************************************************** > To ensure compliance with requirements imposed by U.S. > Treasury Regulations, Proskauer Rose LLP informs you that > any U.S. tax advice contained in this communication > (including any attachments) was not intended or written to > be used, and cannot be used, for the purpose of (i) > avoiding penalties under the Internal Revenue Code or (ii) > promoting, marketing or recommending to another party any > transaction or matter addressed herein. > > ********************************************************* > This message and its attachments are sent from a law firm > and may contain information that is confidential and > protected by privilege from disclosure. If you are not the > intended recipient, you are prohibited from printing, > copying, forwarding or saving them. Please delete the > message and attachments without printing, copying, > forwarding or saving them, and notify the sender > immediately. > > ============================================================================= >
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Thu Sep 04 2008 - 15:16:48 PDT