Policy of this list

[Paul Kellam]

I am neither a lawyer nor a law academic, but am intensely interested in
religion-law issues, particulary those relating to the First Amendment. For
some months now I have been subscribed to this list and following it
religiously (pun intended). I have learned a lot, for which I thank all of you.

Early on, in an attempted posting to the list, I inquired as to whether
someone who is not a law academic was allowed to ask a question. Since my
message did not appear, I assumed the answer was "no." In the course of
time, however, I did notice a few postings from laymen and responses to
those messages.

So a week ago (2/11) I tried again, asking for clarification of the meaning
of dicta, of footnote 11 in Torcaso v. Watkins and the effect on that of the
9th Circuit Court decision in Peloza v. Capistrano. My message seems to have
been posted, but so far there has been no response from any of the law
academics I have seen on this list. I have, however, received several nasty
and even threatening private e-mail messages from people and organizations I
have never heard of, referring to my posting on this list.

As I understand it, this is a moderated list, and that would imply some
restrictions. And certainly no one on the list is under any obligation to
respond to posted messages if they choose not to. I would just like to know
the policy. Is anyone accepted as a subscriber, as I was? Can subscribers
who are not law academics enter into the discussion, or at least ask
questions? What are the rules? Did I violate one or more of them? If so, why
was my message even posted?

Paul Kellam
kellam at digital.net