Pubdate: Tue, 09 Apr 2002 Source: Denver Rocky Mountain News (CO) Copyright: 2002, Denver Publishing Co. Contact: http://www.rockymountainnews.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/371 Author: Mike Littwin WHAT I READ IS (STILL) NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS In the spirit of full disclosure, I have to admit this one is personal. Before I take you on a tour of my private bookshelves -- I know this is something you've been long awaiting -- I have to tell you I'm not exactly a disinterested party when it comes to the Tattered Cover's First Amendment victory. Before I tell you this wonderfully American story -- in which girl cites amendment, judge rules against her, Colorado Supreme Court overrules judge, girl cites amendment again -- I have to say that, for me, the Tattered Cover isn't just any bookstore and the First Amendment isn't just any amendment. And Joyce Meskis, who owns the Tattered Cover, isn't just any shopkeeper. I don't just shop at the Tattered Cover. If you want to understand my relationship to the place, think Norm in Cheers. I'm the only guy I know who thinks of 11 p.m. (when the Cherry Creek store shuts down for the night) as closing time. You've been to the Tattered Cover. If you're a book lover, you understand. If you're a book liker, you understand. What I'm saying is, when friends come to town, I might mention something about the mountains -- usually about how they make a nice backdrop for what is my refuge from the mean streets of LoDo or Cherry Creek. And as for the First Amendment, I guess I owe my borderline career to it. So, on to the bookshelf. Unlike Oprah, I haven't yet run out of books to read. Unfortunately, I keep running out of room to put them. See, right next to True History of the Kelly Gang, you'll find Mein Kampf, although I'm not, at last check, a Nazi. Over in the corner, between Ian McEwan's brilliant Atonement and The Complete Prose of Woody Allen, I have Das Kapital, although I'm not now and never have been a member of the Communist Party. I also own Tim McVeigh's favorite, Turner Diaries, although I don't usually keep it on display. I don't own any books on how to make methamphetamine in your kitchen, or in any of your rooms, but I would, if I needed it for a story. But I do have books about the Taliban. And two about Che Guevara. And if the police came to my house, checking on which books I read, they could draw virtually any conclusion they wanted. Which is exactly why Meskis took her stand. Let me give you the short version of what happened. The cops raided a meth lab. They weren't sure which of the five people in the home set it up. They found two books -- including this Steinbeckian epic: Advanced Techniques of Clandestine Psychedelic and Amphetamine Manufacture by Uncle Fester; like you, I have the entire Uncle Fester oeuvre. And, in the trash, they found an empty package mailed from the Tattered Cover. This looked a lot like a clue. So, with package in hand, the cops went to the Tattered Cover with a search warrant to demand the store reveal what had been in the package, although it may or may not have had anything to do with the meth lab. For all the cops knew, it could have held a copy of, say, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn or - -- why not? -- an "I Read Banned Books" T- shirt. Meskis refused, and so the story begins. It's Meskis' story. And a story of principle. It cost her time and money and worry. Book lovers and book sellers around the country came to her aid. Lawyers worked at reduced salary. But she was the one who bore the burden. She would argue before the court that to hand over purchase records would have a chilling effect on what people bought, meaning what people read -- and I don't mean the guilty pleasures of Danielle Steel. If the government had access to your book purchases, you might hew closely to the best-seller list, or maybe just to the coffee bar. The Colorado Supreme Court agreed. And with feeling. This court, in a unanimous opinion, went further in its ruling than the lawyers asked, or even imagined. This court ruled that a bookseller had a right to a hearing in front of a judge before the police could acquire a search warrant. This court ruled that the burden weighs heavily on the state to show that its need is greater than the need for someone to keep his book purchases anonymous. This court ruled in this post-Sept. 11 era, a time in which security needs and the Bill of Rights sometimes clash, that the First Amendment is still vital. After the court ruled, when Meskis was asked how she would celebrate her victory, she said she would go to sleep early. I'm going to sleep a little easier myself, but only after reaching for a book -- I'm not telling which one -- on the bedside table. - --- MAP posted-by: Beth