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by gilster
on Sun Nov 05, 2006 11:27 am |
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http://www.denverpost.com/headlines/ci_4595891
-Snip-
Smoke ruling has the reek of censorship
By John Moore
Denver Post Theater Critic
Article Launched:11/05/2006 01:00:00 AM MST
Had the state attorney general's army of lawyers simply gone before a Denver District judge on Monday and said, "Your honor, we too fully believe in the First Amendment, but should they ever clash, public health must take priority over free speech" - it would have been hard to take issue.
But that's not what the state argued to a judge who refused to exempt theater companies from smoking even nontobacco products in live performances. The state instead said there's no "free speech" without the speech.
That mere suggestion drew snickers at Monday's hearing, but guess what? The judge agreed. So all you actors who thought you were conveying meaning through body language or a gesture, guess what? A small group of bureaucrats, none of whom have likely set foot in a theater but have full authority to set public policy, don't get that. As a result, the individual constitutional freedoms the government has been chipping away at for the past five years just lost another chip. |
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gilster
Smokers Rights Activist
Joined: Apr 19, 2006
Posts: 835
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by JEEP_GOD
on Sun Nov 05, 2006 4:38 pm |
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"First Assistant Attorney General Tom Douglas built most of his argument on the idea that in theater, none of this is real anyway, so why should the smoking be real? Actors don't drink real alcohol. That's not a real knife in "West Side Story" or a real fire in "The Skin of Our Teeth" or a real gun in "Hedda Gabler." Aren't these all impediments to creating a real world? Yet the audience puts up with that, so why not smoking? "
What an analogy. What a tool making it.
I think this is a name that also bears remembering. TOM DOUGLAS
I don't think this guy should be First Assistant Dog-Catcher, let alone first assistant attorney general. |
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JEEP_GOD
Smoking Lobby Sponsor
Joined: Jul 08, 2006
Posts: 1002
Location: Welcome to camp smoke free!!!
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