User:Legalskeptic/sandbox/Kreimer v. Morristown

Kreimer v. Bureau of Police for Town of Morristown, 958 F.2d 1242 (3d Cir. 1992), was a case in which Richard R. Kreimer, a homeless man residing in various public places throughout Morristown, New Jersey, challenged policies enacted by the Morristown & Morris Township Library that prohibited loitering and annoying other persons and required patron dress and person hygiene to conform to community standards.

Background
1. Patrons shall be engaged in normal activities associated with the use of a public library while in the building. Patrons not engaged in reading, studying, or using library materials may be asked to leave the building. Loitering will not be tolerated.

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5. Patrons shall respect the rights of other patrons and shall not annoy others through noisy or boisterous activities, by unnecessary staring, by following another person through the building, by playing walkmans or other audio equipment so that others can hear it, by singing or talking to oneself or by other behavior which may reasonably result in the disturbance of other persons.

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9. Patron dress and personal hygiene shall conform to the standard of the community for public places. This shall include the repair or cleanliness of garments.

District Court
Kreimer filed a pro se complaint in the District Court of New Jersey, claiming that his expulsion from the Joint Free Public Library of Morristown and Morris Township was unconstitutional, as it violated his First and Fourteenth Amendment rights. The district court accepted Kreimer’s arguments, holding that the library’s rules and regulations (especially those requiring proper hygiene) violated the First Amendment as they were unconstitutionally overbroad and unconstitutionally vague. The library’s policies violated the Fourteenth Amendment by making unconstitutional distinctions between patrons (i.e. against homeless persons).

Court of Appeals
In an opinion delivered by Judge Morton Ira Greenberg, the Third Circuit reversed, finding that libraries are "limited public fora." Given that the library would not have been open without the consent of a majority of voters, the municipality had an interest in assuring the library would be used for its intended purpose; "the communication of the written word." Libraries, by nature, are meant to be places of quiet thoughtful writing, reading or contemplation, and policies designed to protect the intended uses of libraries do not violate the constitution. Any patron who disrupted others and prevented them from using a library to the fullest extent through their actions or inactions (e.g. inability to maintain public hygiene standards) could be subject to expulsion.