Letter To The Editor

2) You failed to address the First Amendment of the USA Constitution on Freedom of Speech that I addressed in that October 17th, 2025 email to the Director and library Board of trustees. The First Amendment protects five core freedoms: speech, religion, press, assembly and petition. It prohibits the government from making laws that abridge these rights, ensuring that citizens can express unpopular, controversial or offensive opinions without government interference or censorship.

A) In Ison vs. Madison Local School District Board of Education, 3 F.4th 887 (6th Cir. 2021)

This decision highlights that while school boards may impose reasonable procedural rules for public participation, they cannot use vague or viewpoint-based restrictions to silence critics.

B) In City of Madison Joint School District. Vs. Wisconsin Employment Relations Comm’n, 429 U.S. 167 (1976)

The Court ruled that when a board opens it’s meetings to the public, it creates a “public forum” where it cannot discriminate based on a speakers employment status or the content of their speech under the “First Amendment.”

The Director and library Board of trustees NEED to re-instate “public comment” section at their monthly meetings. This is our First Amendment Right of FREE SPEECH. The Courts across America have supported our First Amendment right of FREE SPEECH on numerous occasions thru out history. ( I just named a couple here )

In conclusion: The reason given to the public for the Hales Corners Public Library to REVOKE the “public comment” section during the monthly library Board of Trustees meeting by the Village President Daniel Besson is 1) the Trustees lives were threatened by a citizen speaker on August 28th, 2025. Which is a total LIE for two reasons: A) That woman was not arrested that day or ever for that violation. B) That woman was never issued a citation to appear in court for violating WI Statute 947.016-“Threatening to cause bodily harm”-that day or ever. The “public comment” section of the Hales Corners Public Library Board of Trustees meeting has ALWAYS been a part of the meeting agenda for as long as I can remember and I have lived in Hales Corners for almost 40 years. To suddenly REVOKE offering the “public comment” section part of the library Board of trustees meeting since it has been ESTABLISHED is in violation of Wisconsin Open Meeting Law (WI Stat. 19.8) So, the library Board of trustees can choose “whether” to have a “public comment” , BUT once they “choose” to allow / ESTABLISH a “public comment / PUBLIC FORUM” they may not decide to cancel “public comment” because the the topic is expected to be controversial. If they allow “public comment” they must follow the First Amendment.

Continued