NANCY WILLIAMS
288 WEST 725 NORTH
LOGAN, UTAH 84321

March 23, 1997

Trustees of Bedfordshire
47 Mitchell Grant Way
Bedford, Mass. 01730

Dear Trustees:

I am a professor of Journalism and Ethics at Utah State University. Through my research and work in education and online learning communities, I have become aware of the situation at Bedfordshire. I am appalled at your treatment of my colleague and friend Barry Kort.

Judge Margot Botsford's decision to uphold the rule of law in Blood vs. Edgar's actually extends it to the point it now protects illegal activities. Her decision gives condo associations permission to assess fees at will for anything they deem desirable, lets them waive the requirement of approval by a majority of owners, but continues to ask owners to pay up in advance even if the entity being funded by assessment fees is illegal.

What a splendid cover for criminal activity! Condo associations, responsible to nobody (since they are now legally permitted to ignore their own rules of majority approval, according to the Aufiero decision), can now squeeze money out of unit owners for anything -- illegal or not -- and the owners are compelled to pay. "Pay first, file a complaint later" is still the rule, but it's now clear that this also applies to illegitimate activities: one must support and sustain even an illegal operation or risk losing one's home.

Excuse me? It's ironic that Bedford is so close to Concord, where Henry David Thoreau made his benchmark defense of civil disobedience. Barry Kort, following in those footsteps 150 years later, finds the punishment for ethical behavior in the face of a bad law far, far worse than a night in the Concord Jail.

What a sad lesson in civics and ethics for the people of Massachusetts.

Sincerely,



Nancy Williams

Copy to:
The Honorable Margot Botsford, J.S.C.
Barry Kort


Next document on list

Newspaper Coverage
Legal Documents
Letters from Barry Kort
Letters of Support
Other Discussion and Support

Moulton's Home Page


Barry Kort
bkort@musenet.org