Heinrich A. Brucker
March 15, 1998
Ryan & Ryan
Aitkin, MN
Dear Sir:
This letter is in response to your
March 10 demand that The Putnam Pit stop posting "any and all
transcripts" from the Minnesota
tobacco case "on the Internet or any other form of electronic media."
You further ask that I "disclose the source(s)
of the transcripts that [I] have received thus far."
In your letter, you threaten immediate
legal action on behalf of your clients, Stirewalt & Associates, and
that you "will have no other choice."
You state that "[i]n the event that [I] disclose
the source[s] of the transcripts, Stirewalt & Associates would consider
not pursuing legal action."
Mr. Brucker, the Indian philosopher and educator
Krishnamurti said that an intelligent person never has to make a choice;
the correct action is immediately clear. I suppose your letter forces you
to take immediate action, because you have stated you have no other choice.
Perhaps you are intelligent.
It is too bad that your client must pay for
your rigid position.
I told you March 9 by telephone that if you
would show me a contract stating that your client had proprietary interest
in the material, that you could prove your client is the author of the
material and that no state money is going to pay for your client's work,
I would consider those factors as well as any legal citations you chose
to submit.
You agreed.
Instead, you broke your word and furnished nothing
but a demand to comply with your wishes, or else.
Sir, although you have typewritten in bold face
and underlined the word "immediate" in your letter, I am afraid your letterhead
lacks sufficient authority to convince me that I should comply with your
unreasonable demand.
Since you have threatened to bring "immediate"
action if I do not comply with your demands based on your unsubstantiated
claims, I suppose it is too late for you to provide the material that would
have resolved this matter in a professional and dignified way.
I might add that your client is not well served
by your position.
Sincerely,
Geoff Davidian, publisher,
The Putnam Pit
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