Posted by Mary_Bowers on October 20, 2004, at 23:07:17
In reply to Accountability, posted by coral on October 18, 2004, at 18:19:41
> Free speech does not entitle one to yell "Fire" in a crowded theatre. I wonder if the same principle applies here.
Free speech guarantees in the Bill of Rights do allow a person to hand out flyers on the sidewalk outside a theater that might include information about how to contact the fire marshall, or that report how frequently the fire marshal inspects or doesn't inspect the theater, or which describe scenarios in which failures in oversight by the fire marshal or theater managers have resulted in injury or death. As a matter of fact, if there is a fire, one may indeed yell fire in a crowded theater. Theater owners are required to provide lighted, accessible exits and in most modern theaters, lighted aisles leading to exits, sufficient to accomodate whatever crowd activity might result from either a fire or a false alarm. And by golly, they are required to advise theater-goers when there is a fire.
If there were a fire in a crowded theater, or say, a high rise building, those who said the fire is no problem and who delayed evacuation could be found liable, in civil or criminal courts, for their offenses against public safety. In one recent example, building managers who reassured occupants a building was not at risk while the building complex was under attack died when their building collapsed, and were not available to answer to courts or to Congress.
poster:Mary_Bowers
thread:404513
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/admin/20041012/msgs/405337.html