I will be taking my World-Wide book-signing tour to the Big Apple
for the first week of December. For once, I will be a totally legal street
vendor, enjoying my First Amendment rights without fear of arrest for illegal
book sales. It's a long way to go, but someone's got to do it. A photo from the
Hollywood Boulevard leg of my journey:
So far as I can tell, in the rest of the Land ‘o the Free, city, county, state
and *federal codes!* supercede our First Amendment rights when it comes to
sales! It is as though your local chamber of commerce is more precious than our
inalienable rights as Americans, and that your mayor or board of supervisors
consider themselves above our Founding Wise Guys.
Now the way I see it, this is clearly wrong. First of all, if we prohibit the
sales of our expressions of life, then we have only free speech for the rich. At
least, I know that I am not rich enough to give my books away. That would last
for about a month and then I’d be broke. Secondly, our high courts have ruled
many times in favor of sales of “expressive material”.
“…the sale of protected material is also protected” and; “It is well established
that the First Amendment protects the sale of expressive merchandise.”
