From: Michael Lorrey (retroman@tpk.net)
Date: Tue Jun 24 1997 - 15:41:26 MDT
Pat Fallon wrote:
>
> >Somebody mentioned that bit about yelling fire in a crowded theater, I said:
> >
> > That cliche originally came from the American jurist Oliver Wendell Holmes
> > (1841-1935), he used it in one of his decisions that upheld the conviction
> > of a man imprisoned for saying America should not be in the First World War.
> > Years later Holmes said it was the worst decision he made in his entire
> > legal career and he cringed whenever he heard somebody quoting his famous
> > saying.
> >
>
> Yes. Prosecuting someone who falsely yells "Fire!" in a crowded theater is
> not an infringement of free speech. The ticket purchaser and the theater
> owner have
> entered into a contract. The ticket purchaser has bought a ticket to view a
> performance. It's contract law and property rights, not a free speech issue.
>
I had thought is was a matter of public safety, much like yelling "The
sky is falling!". In a crowded theater, the possibility of people being
injured in the panic evacuation was such that public safety outweighed
indvidual rights to yell "Fire" falsely. Still can't say I agree with it
either, as anyone who blindly follows the false cry of another deserves
to run off a cliff. Stupidity is a capital crime.
--
TANSTAAFL!!!
Michael Lorrey
------------------------------------------------------------
mailto:retroman@tpk.net Inventor of the Lorrey Drive
Agent Lorrey@ThePentagon.com
Silo_1013@ThePentagon.com http://www.tpk.net/~retroman/
Mikey's Animatronic Factory
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MIKEYMAS(tm): The New Internet Holiday
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------------------------------------------------------------
#!/usr/local/bin/perl-0777---export-a-crypto-system-sig-RC4-3-lines-PERL
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]+$y)%256;&S}$x=$y=0;for(unpack('C*',<>)){$x++;$y=($s[$x%=256]+$y)%256;
&S;print pack(C,$_^=$s[($s[$x]+$s[$y])%256])}sub S{@s[$x,$y]=@s[$y,$x]}
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