The change follows a February 13 meeting at the library of the Colorado Immigrants Rights Coalition, which had asked nonmembers to RSVP since space was limited. Boulder resident Stan Weekes, who heads an immigration-reform group that opposes CIRC’s goals, had not reserved a seat and was denied entrance, as were a reporter for the Longmont Times-Call newspaper and two others.
The Boulder County chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union sent the city a letter asking for clarification of the library’s policy, the Times-Call reported March 30. In response, Longmont Community Services Director Karen Roney wrote the ACLU that while “it may seem somewhat counterintuitive,” the open-meeting policy “could actually violate” some groups’ First Amendment rights.
The letter cited court cases that ruled that forcing a group to open their meetings to those with differing views could infringe on the group’s right to “expressive association”—the ability to join with other people to promote a particular outlook or goals. In the most prominent example, in Boy Scouts of America v. Dale, the U.S. Supreme Court found that forcing the Scouts to admit a gay scoutmaster would violate the organization’s right of expressive association.
Roney concluded the letter by inviting a conversation with the ACLU to discuss how the library “might balance the sometimes competing rights and interests” of groups and individuals.
Posted on April 6, 2007.