Quote:
Originally Posted by RuthB
What's wrong with a little responsibility when flexing those freedom of speech muscles?  |
That's the purpose of "time, place and manner restrictions," which are, in fact, permitted under the Supreme Court's interpretation of the First Amendment.
By now, given how much publicity the Westboro Baptist brain trust has garnered for itself, all 50 states should have statutes on the books making it explicitly illegal to conduct their protests at the site of a funeral, and during the hours of the funeral. The Supreme Court has ruled such restrictions constitutional, and having them on the books affords law enforcement the chance to keep these schmucks in line in a way that doesn't result in criminal or civil liability for anyone who might be inclined to beat in a Westboro skull or two.
It so happens that Mississippi has precisely such a law in place already, at §97-35-18 of its state code. In fact, given when this statute was passed (2007) my strong hunch is that it was written in direct response to previous demonstrations by the Westboro group. At any rate, under that law, the Westboro assholes would not have been permitted closer than 1000 away from the funeral, and would not have been permitted to demonstrate within an hour of the start or end of the services.
In other words, because the Westboro cretins generally follow such laws during their 'protests' (as they did in the demonstration that gave rise to
Snyder v. Phelps) their asinine little rally would have taken place a little over a football field's length away from the cemetery, and more than an hour before/after the funeral was conducted. I'm sure it would still be very upsetting for a lot of people who witnessed it, but it would have been reasonably possible for family members and friends of the deceased to avoid exposure to the rally.
Don't get me wrong; I am as repulsed by these insane pricks as much as the next guy, and I probably wouldn't have been so philosophical about it if they had shown their despicable faces at my brother's funeral.... but intimidating or harassing them into silence is not the answer. It's not that I'm not going to lose any sleep over a Westboro Baptist taking a well-deserved beating, but as a matter of public policy, it's not something I want to see encouraged or celebrated, either.
Ultimately, this sort of thing is only going to result in the Westboro jackasses being rewarded, really; rewarded with more attention, more basis for painting themselves as the aggrieved party in a potential harassment lawsuit, and more sense of importance than they should ever feel.
So yes, fuck them and the imbecilic horse they rode in on.... but let's not risk martyring their stupid asses in the process.