The American Dissident

American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts

Nearly 15 years ago I contacted the ACLUM in vain, regarding my arrest and incarceration, as a direct result of my having exercised my purported right to freedom of speech at Walden Pond State Reservation(see Walden).

More recently in June 2012 I contacted the ACLU regarding the Sturgis Library permanent trespass order issued against me without warning or possibility of due process. My crime, once again, was the exercise of freedom of speech, though this time in written form. At first the ACLUM proved surprisingly interested. But then the interest waned and totally disappeared. The ACLUM would never stipulate why. Below is the correspondance.

From: todslone@hotmail.com
To: info@aclum.org
Subject:
Date: Thu, 21 Jun 2012 11:30:19 -0400
Hi,
I was just permanently issued a verbal no-trespass order from Sturgis Library, which receives public funding, for having WRITTEN two critical open letters, partially critical of the library director, Lucy Loomis. Three police officers accompanied the director to escort me out of the building. One of the cops grabbed and twisted my arm than frisked me because I'd simply asked why three cops were necessary and stated I did not have a weapon. Can you help? The critical letters are posted on my blogsite. It is astonishing to me that a library director could be so scornful of free speech.
Sincerely,
G. Tod Slone, Founding Editor (1998)

The American Dissident, a 501c3 Nonprofit

Journal of Literature, Democracy, and Dissidence

www.theamericandissident.org

wwwtheamericandissidentorg.blogspot.com

todslone@hotmail.com

217 Commerce Rd.

Barnstable, MA 02630

Subject: RE:
Date: Fri, 22 Jun 2012 13:09:03 -0400
From: Info@aclum.org
To: todslone@hotmail.com
Dear Mr. Slone:
Please call our intake department at 617-482-3170, ext. 100 and they can speak with you.
Subject: Your letter to ACLUM

The ACLU of Massachusetts has just received an email message from you.
If your email to us is a complaint about a civil liberties or civil
rights violation, please understand that for your privacy and
protection, we do not accept such complaints via this email address.
Please write up as briefly as you can the basic information about your
complaint and either fax it, send it by regular mail, or call our
office. Our fax number is 617-451-0009; our address is 211 Congress
Street, Boston MA 02110, and our phone number is (617) 482-3170.

ACLUM
211 Congress St.
Boston, MA 02110

June 22, 2012

Peaceful Freedom of Expression Punished
By a Permanent No-Trespass Order at Sturgis Library
To the ACLUM,
Recently, I wrote and sent two critical open letters to the library directors of the Clams library system on Cape Cod, where I live, in a last ditch effort to get just one of them to subscribe (only $20) to The American Dissident, devoted to literature, democracy, and dissidence.

Several days after posting the second letter, Lucy Loomis, director of Sturgis Library (Barnstable, MA), approached me in the library with three cops and issued a verbal permanent no-trespass order. I was quietly working on the internet when that happened and had not spoken to Loomis at all that day and rarely ever did and when I did it was polite small talk.

No warning preceded the event and no due process ever occurred. The library is publicly funded and included in the Town of Barnstable Annual Report. Yet the Town Manager said he had no jurisdiction over the library.

Loomis’ reason was the following: “you have been criticizing me and do not like it here.” Actually, I did like it at that library. BTW, I am a senior citizen and one of the cops twisted my arm, held it, and frisked me. Can that be legal? All I’d said was: why are there three cops here? I don’t have a weapon.

I was given no written document for the no-trespass., despite my request. The police gave me nothing written either, but said I would be arrested if I again stepped foot on the grounds.

A year and a half earlier I had tried to interest Loomis in subscribing to The American Dissident. She refused, despite my clearly pointing out that her collection development policy clearly stipulated that “Libraries should provide materials and information presenting all points of view…” Loomis then banned me from leaving critical flyers on library grounds and from speaking about that to staff, one of whom had apparently complained that I’d left a flyer on her windshield. I obeyed that command until the day I was issued the no-trespass order.

No threats have ever been made by me, and the director never said I’d threatened her. And I’ve always been quiet and polite to staff when in the library.

Can you help me reverse Loomis’ no-trespass decision? After all, I am a senior citizen, live in town, and am thus forced to support Loomis and the library with my tax dollars. Does it not seem extreme to punish a person for simply writing and posting online several open letters (wwwtheamericandissidentorg.blogspot.com)?

Thank you for your attention.
Sincerely,

G. Tod Slone, PhD and Founding Editor (1998)
The American Dissident, a 501c3 Nonprofit
Journal of Literature, Democracy, and Dissidence
www.theamericandissident.org
wwwtheamericandissidentorg.blogspot.com
todslone@hotmail.com
217 Commerce Rd.
Barnstable, MA 02630

Date: Fri, 6 Jul 2012 12:22:10 -0400
From: scorcoran@aclum.org
To: todslone@hotmail.com
Dear Mr. Slone,
On June 28, 2012, ACLUM received your letter about the Barnstable library refusing to carry the American Dissident and issuing you a no-trespass order. You included with your letter to us one of the two open letters you say you wrote to the library.
Will you please send me a copy of your other open letter? If you have received anything in writing about the no-trespass order, will you please send that as well? You are welcome to email or fax it, if it is more convenient for you.
Please understand that I don’t know whether ACLUM will be able to help you. This additional information will allow us to do a more complete review. At that point, we will be able to determine if we can give you the help you requested.
Sincerely,
Susan Corcoran
_________________________________________________________
Susan Corcoran
Intake Attorney
American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Massachusetts
211 Congress Street | Boston, MA 02110
scorcoran@aclum.org | (617) 482-3170 x327 (office) | (617) 451-0009 (fax)
Because the rights you save may be your own.
aclum.org | aclum.org/facebook | aclum.org/podcast | aclum.org/join

Dear Susan Corcoran, Intake Attorney, ACLUM:
Thank you for responding. I have of course thought long and hard regarding what occurred (i.e., the PERMANENT verbal trespass order w/o warning or due process). My taxes help pay for that library, which truly irritates me. It is the library in the town where I live.

The two letters, as well as the banned broadside (a year and a half ago) are attached, as well as the police report. I have just written the police chief requesting the duration of the trespass order, since it is not even indicated on the report.

Town Hall argued it had no jurisdiction over the libraries, although it voted every year to help fund them. The Town Manager has not responded to my request for a written document.

From: todslone@hotmail.com
To: scorcoran@aclum.org
Subject: RE: Your letter to ACLUM
Date: Sat, 7 Jul 2012 11:24:55 -0400

"When there is a gap between one’s real and one’s declared aims, one turns, as it were, instinctively to long words and exhausted idioms, like a cuttlefish squirting out ink”.

—Orwell

Dear Susan Corcoran, Intake Attorney, ACLUM:

Thank you for responding. I might add to Orwell’s observation that when an outsider points out the gap, severe punishment might be the result. As a result of the PERMANENT verbal trespass order w/o warning or due process, I now have to travel twice as far to use the internet for my job as online instructor at another library beyond the town where I live.

This is clearly a FREE SPEECH issue, a mind-boggling one at that.

The two letters, the banned broadside (a year and a half ago), as well as the police report are attached. I have just written the Barnstable police chief requesting the duration of the trespass order, since it is not even indicated on the report. I will inform you if he responds. My letter figures below. The sergeant on duty did not want me to file a police report, so I didn’t. But that thought kept festering until I finally sent the letter to the chief.

Note that it is an easy thing for the director to state that I made her “feel uncomfortable” or said“inappropriate things,” for I cannot possibly prove that to be false. Such statements clearly serve to divert attention from my principle message, which was that “Libraries should provide materials and information presenting all points of view…” and that my point of view has now been permanently banned. A year and a half ago, the director banned my flyers on library premises and banned me from speaking to staff about that. I obeyed her command. I do have all email correspondence with that regard.

The only soi-disant “inappropriate thing” I can think of was something I cartooned, not verbally stated. The cartoon forms part of the banned broadside. The title of it is “Citizen Maudit against the Marms.” With its regard, I clearly recall the director telling me that I’d called her names, then when I asked for something specific, she said “marm.” But again, I never called her that. The director and I had spoken a year and a half ago on two occasions. She addressed me. One occasion was due to my request for the library to subscribe. The other occasion was due to a staff complaint that she (there are only females employed as library staff) found a flyer under her windshield wiper. I recall leaving it there (to this day I do not know who the staff was) because she’d had a bumper sticker, boasting Banned Books Week. Since that time, I rarely ever spoke to the director. Now and then, the director addressed me when checking out my books with brief small talk, and I replied with the same. There was NO reason at all for her to fear for her safety. She, of course, never put it that way, though feeling uncomfortable has that implication.

Note that I do not have a criminal record, have never threatened anyone, and have never made a disturbance in the library, which really makes this so difficult for me to believe. My only crime is that I tend to be highly critical in writing of what I perceive to be instances of gross hypocrisy. My Socratic daemon tends to be very potent.

Town Hall argued it had no jurisdiction over the libraries, although it votes every year to help fund them. It suggested I contact Eleanor Claus, President of the Town Library Committee. I did, and she has refused to respond. She is a friend of the director’s. A second trustee, Dan Santos, is apparently dating the director. There are three trustees. Santos was apparently quite furious when I’d silently protested on July 4, 2011, holding a placard: CELEBRATE THE FIRST FUCKING AMENDMENT, NOT COMMERCE. His email to me is also attached.

The Town Manager has not responded. The local newspapers are not interested in the story. The American Library Association is not interested in it either.

This is why I have requested your help. I am a senior citizen on a more or less fixed income. I teach a few online university courses, earning about 15 to 25K per year. I have given up trying to find full-time university employment because I have always been critical of my university employers, and as we both know that is clearly a taboo in academe.

Thanks again for your time and attention.

G. Tod Slone, Founding Editor (1998)

The American Dissident, a 501c3 Nonprofit

Journal of Literature, Democracy, and Dissidence

www.theamericandissident.org

wwwtheamericandissidentorg.blogspot.com

todslone@hotmail.com

217 Commerce Rd.

Barnstable, MA 02630

Barnstable Police Department, 1200 Phinneys Ln, Hyannis, MA 02601

To Barnstable Police Chief MacDonald,

Relative to call #12 26042. Despite my requests, a written document has not been issued regarding the VERBAL trespass order on June 19thvis-à-vis Sturgis Library. The Town Manager does not respond. Eleanor Claus,President of the Town Library Committee, does not respond. The copy of the police report does not stipulate the duration of the punishment or possibility of due process.

Relative to my being trespassed, Officer Foley acted with unusual aggression and anger, grabbing my arm, twisting it, then frisking me. Yet I was simply seated in a corner in the library, quietly working on my laptop. I’m a senior citizen. Is that how officers should behave? It was more than evident that I was not carrying a weapon. Officer Myett later informed me that Foley was present as a training officer. Should citizens be used as training dummies without even being asked whether or not they’d like to participate in such activity? Officer Myett, by the way, was most cordial and informative.

Thank you for your attention

Sincerely,
G. Tod Slone

Subject: RE: Your letter to ACLUM
Date: Mon, 16 Jul 2012 14:30:53 -0400
From: scorcoran@aclum.org
To: todslone@hotmail.com
Dear Mr. Slone,
Will you please call me so that we can discuss the situation with the library? You can reach me at 617-482-3170 x327. I am generally in the office from about 10:00 am to 3:00 pm.
I look forward to talking to you.
Susan Corcoran
Intake Attorney

From: todslone@hotmail.com
To: scorcoran@aclum.org
Subject: RE: Your letter to ACLUM
Date: Mon, 16 Jul 2012 16:54:19 -0400
Hi Susan Corcoran,
Good. I will call you tomorrow morning probably around 11 and, if you're busy then, thereafter. Thanks again for your possible interest.
G. Tod Slone
Hi Attorney Susan Corcoran,
Sorry, I forgot to put the Att in front of your name. Great. Thank you again.
G. Tod Slone

Subject: RE: Your letter to ACLUM
Date: Wed, 1 Aug 2012 13:14:37 -0400
From: scorcoran@aclum.org
To: todslone@hotmail.com
Dear Mr. Slone,
The legal team reviewed the information you gave me during our last conversation. With the permission you gave us, an attorney will talk to the Sturgis librarian. I will let you know the outcome. It will probably be next week.
Thanks for your consistent follow up.
Susan Corcoran
From: George Slone [mailto:todslone@hotmail.com]
Sent: Wednesday, August 01, 2012 12:55 PM
To: Susan Corcoran
Subject: RE: Your letter to ACLUM
Hi Susan Corcoran,

It’s been two weeks now. Thus, I’m contacting you. Nothing new here RE the library. However, I do feel uncomfortable now when going to the next closest library since I know that it will take very little for that director to ban me. An anti-freedom of expression precedent has been effected here. In fact, I just might stop going to the libraries in this system altogether. Of course, nobody in these parts seems to care. PEN New England refuses to respond to my correspondence. Oh well, onwards…
I’ll be home here from 3-5 today and tomorrow from 11-3. My new phone # is 508 362-0342. I prefer email, but it’s up to you. Thanks again.

G. Tod Slone

From: todslone@hotmail.com
To: scorcoran@aclum.org
Subject: RE: Your letter to ACLUM
Date: Thu, 30 Aug 2012 08:38:56 -0400

To Attorney Corcoran,
I’ve sent two emails with no response over the past two or three weeks. This will be the last. Am I to assume the ACLUM didn’t call the library director or did call her and was convinced I should have been permanently trespassed without due process?
Thanks for your attention.
G. Tod Slone

From: todslone@hotmail.com
To: info@aclum.org
Subject: Susan Corcoran MIA
Date: Mon, 3 Sep 2012 10:12:14 -0400
Hi,
I had been in contact with intake attorney Susan Corcoran. However, it's been a month now since she ceased responding to my emails regarding my being permanently trespassed w/o due process from Sturgis Library for written criticism. Is she okay? If so, why doesn't she respond? If not, could you put me in contact with another intake lawyer? The last I heard from her, she'd said an ACLUM lawyer would be contacting Sturgis Library. Was contact ever made? If so, what happened? If not, why not? Thank you for your attention.
Sincerely,
G. Tod Slone

THE AMERICAN DISSIDENT
A Journal of Literature, Democracy, and Dissidence
Providing a Forum for Vigorous Debate, Cornerstone of Democracy
A 501 (3) c Nonprofit Organization Founded in 1998 in Concord, Massachusetts
todslone@hotmail.com www.theamericandissident.org

September 7, 2012

ACLUM
211 Congress St.
Boston, MA 02110

Peaceful Freedom of Expression Punished
By a Permanent No-Trespass Order at Sturgis Library w/o Warning or Due Process

To the ACLUM,
It is quite odd to me that your intake attorney Susan Corcoran suddenly stopped responding to my correspondence since the beginning of August. Did something happen to her? If so, please inform me. I’d also like to be informed regarding the action you were to take regarding the library. Did you in fact call the director? If so, what did she say? See Corcoran’s last communication to me below with that regard. Thank you for your attention.
Sincerely,

G. Tod Slone
217 Commerce Rd.
Barnstable, MA 02630

Susan Corcoran Intake Attorney
AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION
of MASSACHUSETTS .
G. Tod Slone
The American Dissident 217 Commerce Rd. Barnstable, MA 02630
Since we received your first correspondence on June 28,2012, you and I have communicated approximately fifteen times. I appreciate your sending the additional information and relevant documents.
The ACLUM legal team reviewed and discussed the materials issues you presented us. Based on this review, we determined that we would contact the director of the Sturgis Library on your behalf.
I did, in fact, speak directly with the director of the library. The advocacy of ACLUM did not, however, lead to a lifting of the no trespass order.

Susan Corco an Intake Attorney

From: todslone@hotmail.com
To: scorcoran@aclum.org
Subject: RE: Your letter to ACLUM
Date: Wed, 1 Aug 2012 14:58:11 -0400

Hi Attorney Susan Corcoran,
Sorry, I forgot to put the Att in front of your name. Great. Thank you again.
G. Tod Slone

From: todslone@hotmail.com
To: scorcoran@aclum.org
Subject: RE: Your letter to ACLUM
Date: Wed, 15 Aug 2012 14:03:27 -0400

Hi Attorney Corcoran,
Just wondering if the lawyer called the Sturgis librarian last week and what the outcome might have been. If nothing new, no need to respond. Thanks.
G. Tod Slone

From: todslone@hotmail.com
To: scorcoran@aclum.org
Subject: RE: Your letter to ACLUM
Date: Mon, 20 Aug 2012 11:21:29 -0400

Hi Attorney Corcoran,
It's best to email me when you have any further info, regarding the library, as I do not have an answering service. Thanks again.
George Slone

From: todslone@hotmail.com
To: scorcoran@aclum.org
Subject: RE: Your letter to ACLUM
Date: Thu, 30 Aug 2012 08:38:56 -0400

To Attorney Corcoran,

I’ve sent two emails with no response over the past two or three weeks. This will be the last. Am I to assume the ACLUM didn’t call the library director or did call her and was convinced I should have beenpermanently trespassed without due process?
Thanks for your attention.
G. Tod Slone

ACLUM

From: todslone@hotmail.com
To: scorcoran@aclum.org
Subject: Lawyers Without Principles award
Date: Wed, 3 Oct 2012 08:36:37 -0400
To Susan Corcoran, Intake Attorney, ACLUM:
It is really sad the way how you handled my case. SILENCE, then FLUFF. It leaves me wondering about the very integrity of the ACLUM. Was cronyism involved? After all, this is Cronychusetts. Did you really contact Sturgis Library? If so, why do you refuse to tell me what was said and why you decided not to pursue the free speech violation? If I were gay or black or an illegal alien, would you have taken the case? Of course, these things I’ll never know, since you probably not bother to answer. In any case, you have certainly not made me a proponent of the ACLUM. Should I grant you the next LAWYERS WITHOUT PRINCIPLES award? For the satirical cartoon I just did on Betsy Newell, as award recipient, open the following link: http://wwwtheamericandissidentorg.blogspot.com/.
Sincerely,
G. Tod Slone, PhD and Founding Editor (1998)
The American Dissident, a 501c3 Nonprofit Journal of Literature, Democracy, and Dissidence
www.theamericandissident.org
wwwtheamericandissidentorg.blogspot.com
todslone@hotmail.com
217 Commerce Rd.
Barnstable, MA 02630

[No further response received.]

The American Dissident: Literature, Democracy & Dissidence

American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts