By Semperpapa
The case of Albert Snyder against the Westboro Baptist Church has been taken up by the Supreme Court. On Wednesday, Justices heard the case and their deliberation are expected toward the end of the year.
In the first place, I am amused by the "concern" of many news outlets, who have expressed their fear that a verdict in favor of the Gold Star father would create a precedent in curtailing the First Amendment Right of people. I find amusing that suddenly some of the people who have expressed the opinion that Fox News, Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh should be prevented from speaking, are today so adamant in defending the US Constitution.
If the case is adjudicated on the basis of Freedom of Speech, it is already lost, in my opinion. As much as I feel the highest level of hate for the miscreants of the WBC, expecting the SCOTUS to issue an order that would curtail their 1st amendment right is irrational.
The vile protest of these people is not like yelling FIRE in a crowded theater, because they do not imperil the safety of others during their stunts. And all who have physically intervened has been financing their enterprise, as they have sued and won every case.
So, in my mind and not being a lawyer, I see only one way to stop these idiots at funerals: just have the local municipalities, with whom they have to file a permit for their protest, refuse such permit by making their protest in violation of the right to privacy of the grieving family and therefore a form of harassment.
The funerals of Fallen Heroes are private functions, where even the Patriot Guards presence is depending on the family private invitation. The Media shows up, sometimes. Most of the time, the function is limited to the family of the KIA, friends and the PGR, again if invited.
Sometimes Law Enforcement and Fire Dept. are there.
Unless the WBC is invited by the family, I would contend that their showing up could be considered harassment and therefore within the municipality's right to refuse them the permit.
The Service Members and their families are not responsible for the policies the hate mongers of the WBC are protesting. They want to protest such policies, go do your stunt in front of the Pentagon, or the White House or your local politician.
As for the Gold Star Families, leave them alone in their grief.
Just my thoughts!
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Semperpapa,
ReplyDeleteI thought Bill O'Reilly's comments were the one way the WBC might lose. There has already been a precedent to making it illegal to defame an individual. If a protest or rant is about a group or section of people, that's okay, but to pick on one person publicly (unless they're a politician, I guess), that is illegal.
According to Bill, the WBC actually sent letters and fliers out about Snyder's son, and this breaks the law. I hope the WBC loses that $10M in the original suit.
I agree. There may be room for the positive direction of the SCOTUS on this. My only point remains that if this is approached as a mere "Freedom of Speech" issue (they should be prevented from protesting because their message is vile and there has to be a line which should not be crossed!) Mr. Snyder will loose. Curtailing 1st Amendment rights because the message is disliked is a road We the People do not want to embark on.
ReplyDeleteSemperpapa
Good thoughts, too. *nod* Thank you for sharing them. With regard to Faux News -my husband's idea is not to curtail their rights to speak - but to put make FNN a premium channel. My additional thought added to that is to slap on one of those "parental advisory" things. :)
ReplyDeleteOn the WBC, I suspect their motive is also money. So my feeling is - let them speak and carry on their protest, with a verdict that disallows them from ever suing another individual, state, or federal organization with the expectation of payment. Just my thoughts. :) ...and I'm adding you to my blogroll.
FNN as a premium channel? uhm, interesting, although I don't see the "parental advisory" thing.
ReplyDeleteFor the WBC money is secondary. The main goal is to get hate message out, as they are a small congregation and I imagine with not too many friends.