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Walden Pond State Reservation—Free Speech in Peril |
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The function of free speech under our system of government is to invite dispute. It may indeed best serve its high purpose when it invites a condition of unrest, creates dissatisfaction with conditions as they are, or even stirs people to anger. Speech is often provocative and challenging. It may strike at prejudices and preconceptions and have profound unsettling effects as it passes for acceptance of an idea. —Justice William O Douglas
The following includes An American Dissident Broadside with regards Walden Pond State Reservation, followed by correspondence with Denise Morrissey, supervisor of Walden Pond State Reservation, and Nicholas Vontzalides of the Massachusetts Executive Office of Environmental Affairs.
An American Dissident Broadside
G. Tod Slone, Founding Editor (todslone@yahoo.com) (www.theamericandissident.org)
Question: Does a citizen have the right to post criticism of a public organization on public grounds? Answer: Legally, yes. At Walden Pond, however, definitely NOT! “Since the Supreme Court’s decision in Hague v. Committee for Industrial Organization (1939), it has been settled in the law that public parks—since they are held in trust for the public and have traditionally been used for assembly, communication, and public discussion—are “traditional” public forums. […] Once a place has been designated a public forum, the government’s power to limit speech there is extremely narrow. Viewpoint discrimination is never permissible. Content discrimination (discrimination based on the subject matter of the speech, whatever the point of view taken on it) is acceptable only if the government can show the following: 1) There is a compelling state interest for the exclusion. 2) The regulation making the exclusion is narrowly drawn to achieve that state interest 3) The regulation leaves open ample alternative channels for the communication.
Speech has been broadly defined as an expression that
includes, but is not limited to, what you wear, read, say, paint, perform,
believe, protest, or even silently resist. “Speech activities” include
leafleting, picketing, symbolic acts, wearing armbands, demonstrations,
speeches, forums, concerts, motion pictures, stage performances, remaining
silent, and so on." (Foundation for Individual Rights in Education) Originally this broadside was written for and sent to park authorities in response to a request for a sample brochure of what I desired to stock by the info kiosk near Thoreau’s replica shack. “I am sorry for the delay in getting back to you about your request to leave your broadside in the brochure box,” wrote supervisor Denise Morrissey. “I ran it by my ‘bosses’ at the Regional level and to our legal counsel in Boston. Basically, the issue is one of space and fairness to all individuals and organizations that might want to do the same.” Space? The park is immense! And what about Free Speech and its legality? On the Dissident Side Thoreau’s sense of ecology is stressed at Walden Pond State Reservation, as opposed to his sense of dissidence. For the socio-political status quo, ecology is far safer than dissidence, though evidently ecology too can be dissident in character. “Disobedience is the true foundation of liberty,” he wrote. “The obedient must be slaves.” Now, what if those words were plastered on the front of the Thoreau replica shack in large letters? The words, if heeded, could be potentially damaging to any hierarchical organization, including Walden Pond State Reservation. Contrary to most citizens of his time and ours, Thoreau was eager to express the truth as he saw it. “Such dangerous frankness was in his dealing that his admirers, called him ‘that terrible Thoreau,’” wrote friend Emerson. In America today, “frankness” is still “dangerous.” Indeed, to be “successful,” one must avoid “frankness” at all costs. Thoreau’s definition of “success” was, of course, quite different from that held by the general citizen of his day… and ours, though it clearly favored democracy, while disfavoring all things working against democracy. The “machine” that Thoreau wanted stopped was the money machine for its stifling affect upon free speech and vigorous debate, cornerstones of democracy, and its demand for rampant self-censorship.
As a direct result of the intrinsic corruption of that “machine,” in particular, at Fitchburg State College, and the refusal of the local press to publish anything with its regard, The American Dissident was founded in 1998 in Concord. That corruption essentially killed my career as professor, while unintentionally awakened another one as dissident. “Most who enter on any profession are doomed men,” wrote Thoreau. “The world might as well sing a dirge over them forthwith.” Thus, the dissident of Walden became an inspiration. Indeed, I became fascinated by the often egregious discordance existing between Concord’s brandishing of Thoreau as a native son and its seeming blatant disregard for what he really stood for. Thoreau, the tourist attraction, was of course far more valuable to the “machine” (e.g., Chamber of Commerce) than Thoreau, the dissident. In fact, the perversion of Thoreau as an icon reaches, at times, amazing extremes in Concord, as noted in the photo below. In times of Orwellian doublespeak, anything is possible. “A man will have to add a clause to his will, ‘No statue to be made for me,’” stated Thoreau. “It is very offensive to me to see the dying stiffen into statues at this rate.” Why the bronze statue at Walden?
The American Dissident seeks to publish writing that questions and challenges, as
well as breaches the wall of convenient self-censorship. We, the people, need to
get out there and sense democracy or rather the lack of it, and muster the
courage to perform experiments in free speech. On cold days, we must not only
test the waters of Walden Pond, but also those of democracy. “The dull and
blundering behavior of clowns will as surely polish the writer at last as the
criticism of men of thought,” wrote Thoreau. Over the years, how those
“clowns” have polished me! On 9/1/1999, for example, I was arrested and
incarcerated for a day in Concord by Officer Crosby for criticizing the State in
a non-violent dispute with a Walden Pond park ranger. Despite the State
prosecutor’s fervent desire to prosecute, Judge Sanders gave me the choice of
dismissal or a jury trial, discouraging the latter however with an arrogant
“Given the police report, I don’t think you stand a chance. It would be a
crapshoot.” Yet that report only contained subjective fluff, noting witnesses,
none of whom showed up. And the judge failed to evoke Commonwealth v. Jarrett
(1977): “mere making of statements or expression of views or opinions, no matter
how unpopular, or views with which persons present do not agree is not
punishable as disturbance of the peace.” It still angers me today that Crosby
had my car impounded as punishment ex jura. On 9/8/2000, a state trooper
on horseback literally pushed me off park grounds with his horse because I’d
asked the park ranger of the previous incident why he detested the First
Amendment. The next day I returned with a simple sign: “NO FREE SPEECH AT WALDEN
POND!” Silently, I stood by a tree near the park entrance. Soon, several state
and town police cars arrived to tell me to move or be arrested. Dismayed, I
left. Major Daniel E. Jamroz responded six months later to my official
complaint: “As the Commanding Officer of Tactical Operations, the Mounted
Section falls under my command. I have been provided with the copy of the
investigation that was conducted by Captain Robert C. Laprel of my staff. I have
found that this complaint that you made against officers assigned to the Mounted
Sections for incidents that occurred on Sept. 8 and 9, 2000 at Walden Pond Park
are Not Sustained.” Surprise? Not until this October did I return to Walden,
though I still persisted as a “counterfriction to stop the machine.” To my
surprise, Thoreau Society permitted me to stock The American Dissident at
its Shop at Walden Pond, despite past refusal. But park authorities still
refuse to allow me to place this broadside in the park’s brochure box. Other
doors remain firmly closed. The Concord Chamber of Commerce refuses to permit
the journal in its Visitor’s Center, the Concord Poetry Center refuses to invite
me to speak on protest and poetry, and the Concord Cultural Council refuses to
accord me a grant. “America is said to be the arena on which the battle of
freedom is to be fought; but surely it cannot be freedom in a merely political
sense that is meant,” wrote Thoreau. “Even if we grant that the American has
freed himself from a political tyrant, he is still the slave of an economical
and moral tyrant.”
Correspondence with Denise Morrissey, Supervisor of Walden Park State Reservation
Date:
Tue, 23 Oct 2007 15:14:19 -0700 (PDT)
To Whom It May Concern: The America n Dissident
Date:
Wed, 7 Nov 2007 10:05:16 -0800 (PST)
Dear Denise Morrissey, Walden Pond State Reservation Park
Supervisor:
Your silence will be taken as a no to the First Amendment.
Thank you for your attention.
G. Tod Slone, Ed. PS: The only thing my brochure would solicit is submissions from poets, writers, and artists.
Date:
Wed, 14 Nov 2007 21:39:02 -0500
Dear Mr. Slone, I am familiar with the American Dissident journal now available for sale in the Thoreau Society Shop at Walden. As you know, the state requires a permit for citizens to display or distribute brochures on park property. I will contact our legal and permit personnel in Boston and ask them how to proceed. It would be helpful if you give me as much information as possible about the material you would like to place in the brochure box. I assume, since your journal is for sale, that you are talking about some other material. Email me the content, and I will make the proper contacts on our end. Thanks for your persistent interest in freedom of expression, and in Thoreau's principals. Denise Morrissey Park Supervisor Walden Pond State Reservation
Date:
Fri, 16 Nov 2007 07:49:17 -0800 (PST)
Dear Denise Morrissey,
Sincerely, The America n Dissident
1837 Main St.
Date:
Thu, 6 Dec 2007 15:07:56 -0500 Dear G.Tod Slone, I am sorry for the delay in getting back to you about your request to leave your broadside in the brochure box at Walden Pond State Reservation. I ran it by my "bosses" at the Regional level and to our legal counsel in Boston. Basically, the issue is one of space and fairness to all individuals and organizations that might want to do the same. We have a rack inside the headquarters office, that serves as our "visitors' center" in which we stock area accomodations/information for visitors, but we don't place materials other than Walden brochures, maps and programs in the brochure boxes outside the office. The Thoreau Society puts their materials either inside the shop, or outside on their sandwich board sign. So, short of us allowing a variety of individuals or organizations to "sponsor" their own boxes at their own cost and at their own effort to maintain, we cannot provide space in our brochure boxes for information not specific to the reservation. I'm sorry that is not the answer you were hoping for. I feel it is simply a means to manage the many demands placed upon a site partially dedicated to a complex literary/environmental/political figure like Thoreau, whose work and life can be interpreted in many different ways. I say "partially" because Walden is also a public park, created to "aid the Commonwealth in preserving the Walden of Emerson and Thoreau, its shores and nearby woodlands for the public who wish to enjoy the pond, the woods, and nature, including bathing, boating, fishing and picnicking." (Deed of Gift, 1922). In other words, it is dedicated open space to be enjoyed by visitors who, as you know, come here from all walks of life, some just to walk or swim or enjoy nature, who may not even be aware of Thoreau's legacy. I think that is an equally valid use of the park, since that is what Thoreau did while he was here. I was glad to hear that the Thoreau Society has also offered you space in the exhibit they are planning for January. I understand that this exhibit is to tie in with the annual Civil Disobedience program offered in the gallery space in the park headquarters, with Thoreau scholar Tom Blanding and park interpretive staff. I hope that you feel that with this opportunity, you have a chance to describe your work and your organization, and that you have been given a presence at the reservation. Thank you for your interest in Thoreau and Walden, and for contacting us with your request. Denise Morrissey Park Supervisor Walden Pond State Reservation
Date:
Fri, 7 Dec 2007 07:53:43 -0800 (PST) CC: jim.hayden@thoreausociety.org
Thanks much for your response. However, your arguments for denying The American Dissident the right to stock its brochure at Walden Pond State Reservation do not appear to be legal ones at all, but rather superfluous and diversionary. The fundamental question remains: Do I or do I not have a legal right, as a 501 c3 nonprofit organization, to stock brochures at WPSR? If I do not, please inform me regarding the precise legislation in question. By the way, how many 501 (c) 3 nonprofit organizations based in Concord are pertinent to Thoreau and Walden? I can only think of several others. Yet you make it sound like scores and scores of them exist and that, if permitted, their brochures would create a small mountain apt to obstruct the beautiful view of the pond. Absurd! In accord with your assertion that “we cannot provide space in our brochure boxes for information not specific to the reservation,” the brochure in question was indeed quite “specific to the reservation.” After all, I wrote it specifically for the “reservation” and with Thoreau in mind. You seem to imply, however, that perhaps I had too much Thoreau in it, which in itself seems aberrant, given the bronze statue of Thoreau, the replica shack, and all the Thoreau items being sold at the “reservation” boutique, including T-shirts, bumper stickers, tie clips, and rubber wrist bands. The two large brochure boxes outside by the bronze statue are always half empty when I verify them once or twice per week. Clearly, the issue is not one of available space at all. Besides, the “reservation” is immense! Therefore, I am left wondering if the very content of the brochure in question had something to do with the decision to deny it a place in the boxes or on the bulletin boards above them. Thus, another question remains unanswered: Why is Thoreau Society the only entity permitted to stock and post its brochures outside at the reservation? It is a 501 (c) 3 nonprofit, but so is The American Dissident. Isn’t the “reservation” public property? Are the Society and “reservation” afraid of criticism and resultant vigorous debate, cornerstone of democracy? Most towns and states have their Chamber of Commerce, but how many have their Chamber of Democracy? Not even Concord , “cradle of liberty,” has one of those… and both the “reservation” and Thoreau Society seem grateful for it! Finally, is there another authority I might address in an effort to appeal your decision? Or are citizens simply not permitted to appeal state decisions in Massachusetts ? The reason I would like to appeal the decision is that the “reservation” will not permit public criticism of the “reservation” on public grounds. To me, that rings of censorship, if not fascism. In fact, it rings downright unconstitutional! After all, doesn’t the First Amendment accord all citizens the right to peacefully criticize the government and its diverse agencies in public areas, including public parks? Why has Walden Pond State Reservation systematically, over the past decade, denied me, a citizen, that right? Does it really have the legal right to do so? Apparently, it does not have that right because Judge Sanders of the Concord District Court dismissed the case against me regarding my arrest and incarceration as a result of my engaging in a nonviolent dispute with a public park ranger at Walden Pond State Reservation. Unfortunately, however, the arresting Officer Crosby was not reprimanded, nor was the park ranger who made the complaint. That free-speech incident cost me much grief, time and $100 to retrieve my car, which was impounded by Crosby . That incident made me decide not to exercise my supposed constitutional free-speech rights when I was accosted by state and local police authorities (contacted by “reservation” authorities) at the Walden Pond St ate Reservation entrance for merely holding a sign: NO FREE SPEECH AT WALDEN POND STATE RESERVATION. Those officers of the law threatened to arrest and incarcerate me if I did not move. So, at the “reservation,” Thoreau’s “reservation,” you and your “bosses” apparently condone the incarceration of citizens who simply seek to exercise their First Amendment rights… and that is why I used the term “fascist” above. Please run these questions through your “bosses” and legal counsel, and please let me know if they have second thoughts regarding the brochure. Please also do not take this letter as a personal affront. You have been most cordial with me. However, a citizen must persist and persist in an effort to make public entities behave as public entities. Unfortunately, those entities have the power to remain silent, not respond to grievances, and hope you’ll just go away. Thanks again for your attention.
Sincerely,
Date:
Fri, 4 Jan 2008
10:45:22 -0800 (PST)
T o Denise Morrissey, Park Supervisor, Walden Pond State Reservation:No further response to this discussion we were having? Are you and your bosses aware that vigorous debate is the cornerstone of democracy… and dead at Walden Pond State Reservation? Hopefully, at least, you’re aware the forces of authoritarianism, as opposed to the openness of democracy, dominate the Reservation. Hopefully, at least, you might even privately think it contradictory that on state property, a citizen is not permitted to criticize the state. Hopefully, you know that has always been the case in dictatorial regimes from Hitler to Mao to Stalin to Castro… Happy New Year. Sincerely, G. Tod Slone, Ed.
The American Dissident,
a semiannual 501 c3 nonprofit literary journal And for examining the dark side of the academic/literary established order 1837 Main St. Concord, MA 01742
Date:
Mon, 14 Jan 2008
14:59:27 -0800 (PST)
Hi again, "Since the Supreme Court’s decision in Hague v. Committee for Industrial Organization (1939), it has been settled in the law that public parks—since they are held in trust for the public and have traditionally been used for assembly, communication, and public discussion—are “traditional” public forums. […] Once a place has been designated a public forum, the government’s power to limit speech there is extremely narrow. Viewpoint discrimination is never permissible. Content discrimination (discrimination based on the subject matter of the speech, whatever the point of view taken on it) is acceptable only if the government can show the following: 1) There is a compelling state interest for the exclusion. 2) The regulation making the exclusion is narrowly drawn to achieve that state interest
3) The regulation leaves
open ample alternative channels for the communication. Constitutional lawyers French, Lukianoff and Silverglate in FIRE’s Guide to Free Speech on Campus.
Date:
Tue, 15 Jan 2008
13:51:11 -0500
Mr. Slone, I will pass this on to the department's legal council, but I will repeat his initial response as I gave it to you in my last email. The issue is not with the content of your material per se, but with the precedent of allowing individuals or organizations to use brochure boxes provided by the state for the use of park materials, for their own printed material. Although you disagree with my statement that there would be a great demand for that space should we open it to outside organizations, I can say from my sixteen years of experience working at Walden Pond, that there would be an overwhelming demand. As you have noted yourself, there have not been any publications present in those boxes when you have checked, and I can say with confidence, that we have been consistent in enforcing this policy for all, and that it is not based on the content of the material. In terms of the paragraph you forwarded, I find the last sentence particularly important: "...regulation leaves open ample alternative channels for the communication." Given that you are selling your American Dissident publication in the Thoreau Society bookstore located on state property, and that you have been given permission to contribute to a public exhibit based on Thoreau's essay "Civil Disobedience," (an opportunity not given to any other group I should mention), I feel we are providing you ample opportunity to voice your viewpoints about the importance of free speech. Legal Council is out of the office until next week, so be aware that you will not be getting a response from the Department immediately. If you wish to seek legal council, that is your perogative. Sincerely, Denise Morrissey Park Supervisor Walden Pond State Reservation
Date:
Tue, 15 Jan 2008
11:13:59 -0800 (PST)
To Denise Morrissey, Thanks for your response. Please
do not take this personally. After all, I was arrested and incarcerated in
Concrd for having a nonviolent dispute with a park ranger at Walden… and do not
take it personally and hold no personal grudges whatsoever. I am simply
fighting as a citizen for free expression in a supposed democracy. I shall be
dropping a few materials off tomorrow for Jim Hayden so will probably see you
and say hello. Perhaps indeed the opportunity now afforded me at the Shop at
Walden Pond, which had been refused in prior years, might fulfill that
requisite.
Date:
Tue, 15 Jan 2008
15:46:04 -0500 Mr. Slone, No offense taken, I hope we can work together cordially. Denise Morrissey
Date:
Tue, 15 Jan 2008
13:59:25 -0800 (PST)
Certainly!
Date:
Tue, 22 Jan 2008
09:38:52 -0500
Date:
Tue, 22 Jan 2008
07:18:39 -0800 (PST)
Mr. Vontzalides, Sincerely, G. Tod Slone, Ed.
The American Dissident,
a semiannual 501 c3 nonprofit literary journal And for examining the dark side of the academic/literary established order 1837 Main St. Concord, MA 01742 To date, no further response has been received.
ALL MATERIAL ON THIS SITE IS COPYRIGHT ©G. Tod Slone, 2008, The American Dissident www.theamericandissident.org, a 501c3 nonprofit. |
