Pubdate: Sat, 13 Jan 2001 Source: Denver Rocky Mountain News (CO) Copyright: 2001 Denver Publishing Co. Contact: 400 W. Colfax, Denver, CO 80204 Feedback: http://cfapps.insidedenver.com/opinion/ Website: http://www.denver-rmn.com/ Authors: Denise Campbell, Bill McBride, Jackie Swensson and Carol Sullivan Related: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1654/a04.html BOOKSTORE APPLAUDED FOR PRINCIPLED STAND In George Orwell's 1984, Winston Smith risks his life to read a political tract - a dangerous, seditious act in the eyes of Big Brother. Now we find a Big Brotherly assault on a Denver bookstore in the form of a search warrant ordering the Tattered Cover to reveal titles of books sold to a suspected drug dealer. As English teachers, we believe that reading nourishes our democracy, and we applaud the Tattered Cover's appeal to the Colorado Supreme Court asking it to declare the search warrant unconstitutional. As officers in the Colorado Language Arts Society, an organization of educators from kindergarten to college, we support the bookstore in the name of literacy and democracy. While fiercely opposing drug dealers, we agree with bookseller Joyce Meskis that the First Amendment protects us from government agencies who want to prosecute citizens on the basis of what they read, be it books about a wizard named Harry Potter, drugs, or any other idea, organization or practice. Last spring our organization awarded Joyce Meskis an Intellectual Freedom Award, noting that she has consistently and bravely asserted the constitutional rights of her customers and all citizens to read books that may "push the buttons" of others. At the same time, she has insisted on working to uphold and change, rather than to flout, the law. Denise Campbell, Bill McBride, Jackie Swensson and Carol Sullivan - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D