Posted on 03/02/2011 7:27:39 AM PST by Pyro7480
Edited on 03/02/2011 7:31:23 AM PST by Admin Moderator. [history]
The Supreme Court has ruled that the First Amendment protects fundamentalist church members who mount attention-getting, anti-gay protests outside military funerals.
(Excerpt) Read more at hosted2.ap.org ...
Yep...
If this ruling had gone the other way, forget saying a peep about abortion within 100 miles of a clinic without spending eternity in jail.
You're right. What we need are hate speech laws. Let others decide what we can say. It's the only way to keep the peace.(/s)
Has anyone ever thought, for one minute, hate speech laws are what these protesters are really after? They push and push until we demand someone "protect" us from .... words?
As much as I detest these beasts, I cannot disagree with the decision provided it is public land.
As another poster said, there are various ways to counter it.
I went down to Washington DC last Veterans Day, and stood with the DC Chapter of Free Republic across the street on the road leading to Arlington National Cemetery. On the other side, there were the Westboro Baptist people.
I admit, part of me had a morbid curiousity about it...did they really exist? Could people really be that twisted? I had never actually seen them in person, so...there was something about reality.
There were only about ten of them, fenced in on the other side, and the Patriot Guard stood 3 or 4 deep all the way around their cage with their backs to them, completely blocking view of them to the point you couldn’t even see their signs. Eventually, the police came over and told them they couldn’t stand like that, they had to keep moving, so they began walking the circumfrence of the cage.
As we watched, one of the big biker guys with the Patriot Guard said “Watch this...” and as he and five of his buddies got on their Harleys, the crowd parted on the other side.
When there was a break in the traffic, they all drove directly across the street, straight at the cage at a pretty good clip...looked like they were intent on smashing right through the barricade.
At the last second, they swerved, swung back into the road, and then in unison, all backed their bikes up so all six of them were abreast with their exhaust pointed at the Westboro Baptist people about five feet away.
The began revving their engines, making an unbelievable racket, with the exhaust blowing back over the Westboroids. The cops let it go on for about five minutes, then came over and told them to stop.
It was great.
If flag-burning is protected free speech, so is Harley-revving ...
The courts aren't being lazy. Our entire judicial system is based upon the principle of Stare Decisis, which means that the courts must give great deference to past decisions and not seek to rule on settled matters.
The smartest thing we could do regarding these loons is simply ignore them.
Doing so would cause them to eventually overstep which will end them for good.
Well, paybacks a beach...
Someday, hopefully really soon Phelps is going to die...
Kansas should turn his grave into a rest stop with full facilities...
Just my opinion...
I agree.
Ohhhhh, goody...
I guess that means that the church down in Florida that is in bed with the WBC, that wanted to burn koran’s last year has a free shot now...
Or anyone for that matter, because of this decision...
This keeps getting better and better...
Roberts claims, "As a nation we have chosen a different course - to protect even hurtful speech on public issues to ensure that we do not stifle public debate."
A private funeral for a private citizen is *not* a place for "public debate." The only persons subject to terror by Westboro Baptist are the those without the means to hold the grand, isolated and insulating funerals like a Teddy or a Justice Kennedy can hold.
Since when does exercise of "free speech" protect you from consequences of that speech and make you immune from a civil lawsuit?
Thanks to Justice Alito for not making it a unanimous decision! That would really be just too much!
Hate speech is now protected speech...check...
It’s a good decision in this case. The protesters were 300 yards away, on public property, and the father who brought suit didn’t even see them until the next day, on the news.
In every one of my encounters with this “Church”, they’ve shown themselves to be vile and loathsome creatures.
I would argue that instead of trying to ban them or bankrupt them, what the community should do is come out and support the family, honor the fallen and show common decency.
But we should do this regardless of whether the “Church” shows up or not. Those who have given their loved ones so that we may live free deserve nothing less.
“...The began revving their engines, making an unbelievable racket...”
LOVE the bike method...Excellent!!!
Good to see ya, D-1. Hope things are well with you!
One thing that is very true of the US legal system is that they are extremely lazy and instead of making decisions they rely on past decisions.
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Very odd take on the legal system.
The past decisions that are used have passed Constitutional muster, so of course there will be some reliance on past, Consititutionally correct decisions.
Would we not call it judicial activism otherwise?
Stalking private persons vs. tracking elected officials... you can't see a difference? Hello?
WBC was planning to protest at a Catholic church funeral in Leavenworth. The day of the funeral came and they didn’t show.
The pastor of the church revealed a couple of months ago that, on the day of the funeral, Fr. David got a call from a pastor of a church some 20 miles south of Leavenworth, telling him that WBC was there. The other pastor asked what he should do.
The two pastors agreed it would be best to just let WBC be - their failure to read a map properly wasn’t the cglergymen’s fault! ;-P
My thoughts exactly, ArrogantBustard...my thoughts exactly.
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