MESKIS WRITES CHAPTER ON RIGHTS

Tuesday, April 09, 2002 - The Tattered Cover regulars already crowded the
LoDo store's coffee shop at 8 a.m. Owner Joyce Meskis, attorney Dan Recht,
store manager Ed Booker and others were shoulder-to- shoulder around a
computer.

The decision in Tattered Cover Inc. vs. City of Thornton was due. They'd
spent a long weekend fretting about it.

The case involves the Thornton Police Department's attempt to search the
book-buying records of a suspected illicit drug manufacturer. The police
had the suspect's name and evidence of criminal behavior. They also had a
packing envelope addressed to him from the Tattered Cover.

The question was: What was he reading and could his reading habits be used
as evidence against him in a criminal trial?

When the police entered the LoDo bookstore two years ago, the soft- spoken
Meskis was stunned. They were very polite, she remembered, and so was she.
She told them her records would not be released. Some things are sacred,
and for a bookseller, that includes the right of her customers to read
without fear.

So Meskis, who has struggled against voracious competition from chain
bookstores, discount retailers and online booksellers, now was taking on
the police. It was not a fight she would have chosen.

When the police served the search warrant, "I kept thinking to myself,
"Please don't go there because I'll have to stand by this,' " Meskis said.
"I support the role of the authorities in investigating crime and
eradicating it from our community, but not at the expense of the First
Amendment and our basic values as a society."

Meskis received support and recognition from around the country. The
Friends of Tattered Cover raised money to help pay legal costs. The
American Booksellers Association's Foundation for Free Expression held
fundraisers. Her passionately loyal customers bought even more books.

It was a long, hard fight. And on Monday morning, it had come to this:
Recht hitting the refresh key on the Colorado Supreme Court website over
and over until the opinion finally appeared.

Their eyes raced through the 50-page document. Then there were smiles and
hugs all around.

They'd won big.

"Not only did it say that we did not have to turn over information to
police, but in the future, anytime the police want to search a bookstore,
they have to afford a bookstore a hearing before a judge so a bookstore can
contest a search," Recht said. "In the big picture, that's huge."

It's the first case of its kind in the U.S., and Recht said it was clear
the decision was written with its importance as a legal precedent in mind.
It cited the Colorado Constitution and the U.S. Constitution and
congratulated Meskis for her "steadfast stance" in their defense.

Among the loyal customers in the comfortable armchairs at the TC, the
decision is one more reason to keep coming back.

Jim Greer of Coal Creek Canyon said what Meskis did "took a lot of guts. We
need more people who are willing to stand up for what's right." Customer
Bob Edwards said her courage will make him "even more loyal." And in the
coffee shop, the TC regulars were jubilant.

As TV cameras whirred, Recht put his arm around Meskis and kissed her
cheek. "She's a hero," he said.

She sure is.