Joe Scarborough, who is tired of you people thinking candidates should be judged so heavily on whether they endorse marriage discrimination, reclaimed some lost brownie points on The View by explaining how the Supreme Court could uphold the First Amendment for the Westboro Baptist Church while still maintaining the same civility demanded from other demonstrators.
solutions
Just Put Westboro Baptist Protesters In Cages Already
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terrwill
……still waiting for a grieving Parent of some soldier or AIDS victim to plead temporary insanity as the cause of a volly of bullets towards that band of inbred, savage, scumbags………
WisconsinGay
While the Westboro Baptist Church may be the worst collection of people in the entire world, they are entitled to picket and protest whatever they want. As long as they don’t cross the line into advocating the human harming of another human, we can’t legislate their legal speech. This is America. Even crazy bigots get to talk here.
ChicagoJimmy
I really don’t understand this at all. Let’s review the 1st Amendment:
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
Admittedly, I’m no legal or Constitutional scholar, but it seems to me the family has a right to a religious ceremony without interference. It also seems to me that the family has a right to peaceably assemble without interference. Why does the church group get to exercise their 1st Amendment rights and not the family?
Paschal
@WisconsinGay: Well they have crossed the line. Their demonstrations incite hatred against vunrelable groups. The First Amendmet shouldn’t be abused to incite hatred
Jake the libertarian
The first amendment is paramount. It should not be trampled on by any law. However, we as citizens, have a right to defend ourselves. I have been to several funerals of fallen servicemen (I served in Iraq in ’05 ’06 & ’07) and thankfully they never showed to any funeral I have attended. I would make the argument that their rhetoric and presence at such an event would constitute an assault on the family. If the police were unable or unwilling to repel such an assault, the family and friends should have the ability to defend themselves.
In other words… don’t come around my house motherfuckers… I’ll shoot you and I bet the jury lets me off.
James Davis
@terrwill: ditto
B
No. 3 · ChicagoJimmy wrote, “Admittedly, I’m no legal or Constitutional scholar, but it seems to me the family has a right to a religious ceremony without interference. It also seems to me that the family has a right to peaceably assemble without interference. Why does the church group get to exercise their 1st Amendment rights and not the family?”
Fred Phelps and quite a few of his offspring are lawyers. They usually, if not always, are careful to stay on the safe side of the line – barely. Some states have laws requiring protests of a funeral to be some distance away, and the Phelps clan seems to obey that rule. A grieving family may not see them live, but probably will see them on the evening news and will know that they were there.
When they protested the Hillel center at Stanford last January, they had their tires slashed, although it was probably done by someone who followed them from their previous antics at Gunn High School a few miles away: it was earlier than most college students get out of bed and nobody knew where they were going to park (Stanford had apparently offered them guarded parking but they apparently refused to take advantage of that).
hardmannyc
There’s also the “fire in the theater” argument. It’s one thing for Nazis to march down Main Street in Skokie. But yelling obscenities as people are going into a funeral crosses the line from free speech to harassment, which is not protected.