[SoFloFreeper]

I guess that First Amendment right to petition is so much toilet paper, eh?

[sten]

first stab at the 1st amendment, beyond religious grounds?

[11th Commandment]

Very good point. Let's be clear, this is about the stupidest thing I have seen in a long time. However, a close second is a judge denying the right to petition (if the news report is accurate). According to Judge Napolitano, "Freedom of thought, freedom of expression, freedom of association, even if generated and defined by hatred, is protected, as long as that does not produce immediate lawless violence”.

This is clearly a case of PC creep. The polite company argument of PC at our universities has now evolved into restricting first amendment rights. Following the California Judge's logic, I could not start a petition to ban flag burning because flag burning is constitutional..

[Conscience of a Conservative]

The First Amendment right to petition does not mean that every such petition must be placed on the ballot. As the judge noted, the result sought by proposed ballot initiative here—a law permitting/mandating killing all homosexuals—is patently unconstitutional. Refusing to place it on the ballot did not deprive the petitioner of any rights.