Congress Shackles Westboro Baptist Church

[KaiserElectric]

This was nice to hear. I'm surprised no one here posted this.

Westboro Baptist Church protesters will soon be severely limited in their ability to disrupt military funerals, after Congress passed a sweeping veterans bill this week that includes restrictions on such demonstrations.

According to "The Honoring America’s Veterans and Caring for Camp Lejeune Families Act of 2012," which is now headed to President Barack Obama's desk, demonstrators will no longer be allowed to picket military funerals two hours before or after a service. The bill also requires protestors to be at least 300 feet away from grieving family members.

This aspect of the legislation was introduced by Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), who, at the urging of a teenage constituent, proposed new limitations on military funeral demonstrations as a response to a 2011 Supreme Court case that ruled such actions were protected under the First Amendment.

In the wake of that decision, many have turned to counter-protest efforts to block Westboro Baptist Church's disruptive and insensitive displays, which frequently suggest that U.S. soldiers have been killed as God's vengeance for gay tolerance.

Thousands turned out in Missouri last month, forming a "human wall" around a church where the service for a fallen soldier was being held.

Earlier in July, hundreds of Texas A&M students showed up in a similar effort, joining together to create a barrier between Westboro Baptist Church members and a military funeral.

And while not at a specific service, a group of demonstrators dressed as zombies gathered at a military base in Washington last month, far outnumbering and overshadowing followers of the far-right congregation.

The bill also contains a variety of measures meant to address veterans health, benefits, housing and education. Obama is expected to sign to the legislation later this month.

Sauce

 

[IdiotsOpposite]

Clearly the atheists are in control. They won't stop until every church can't do a thing! We must stop them with guns in the name of Christian Conservatism!

Or something. Really, I'm a lame poster this early in the morning.

 

[Chairman Meow]

So... not to defend the jackasses who do those things, but what makes this law any more constitutional than the one that the Supreme Court struck down before under the First Amendment?

 

[IdiotsOpposite]

So... not to defend the jackasses who do those things, but what makes this law any more constitutional than the one that the Supreme Court struck down before under the First Amendment?

I think it's due to the whole "time, place, and manner" thing.

 

[CELTICEMPIRE]

Glad to hear it!

 

[Save_Ferris]

This was nice to hear. I'm surprised no one here posted this.



Sauce

No one posts good news on here, really. It hurts their claim that the West is falling apart, be it towards one side or the other.

Nice to hear, though. The Westboro Baptists are the modern KKK.

 

[Phrossack]

Good to hear.

 

[MobBoss]

I'm glad to hear it too; however, I fully expect the WBC to take it to court. And guess what? They are really, really good at winning in court.

 

[kramerfan86]

I think it's due to the whole "time, place, and manner" thing.

Yea that has to be it, there is plenty of precedent for not banning speech but instead shackling its location and time, things like protest permits and such.

 

[AlpsStranger]

I dunno. This is a bad path to go down, obnoxious as they are.

They aren't literally being denied speech, but their speech is being "pushed aside" to a more convenient space.

On the other hand, harassment isn't necessarily protected speech.

 

[Berzerker]

these restrictions are not out of safety concerns but the nature of the message, just Congress taking another dump on the Constitution and lighting it on fire after leaving it on our doorstep

shame

SHAME!

 

[kramerfan86]

The constitution doesnt really specify safety as a justifiable reason to restrict yet you seem to have no problem with congress and the court dumping on that.

 

[GoodGame]

Wow, this took 4+ years????

The chances of this being appealed in the SCOTUS?

 

[JollyRoger]

This legislation really doesn't do much. There were already state and local laws that did this to WBC. The case that WBC won at the Supreme Court was whether the families could sue WBC. So far as I can tell, this law does not change that.

 

[KaiserElectric]

Hard to say. Given the huge amount of notable counter-protests against the Church, I don't think the SCOTUS is going to want to touch this issue again.

these restrictions are not out of safety concerns but the nature of the message, just Congress taking another dump on the Constitution and lighting it on fire after leaving it on our doorstep

shame

SHAME!

I'm supportive of a strict Constitution and even I have to disagree with you there. There's a lot of debate on the matter of what the Founding Father's intended to convey in the Constitution, but not even James Madison would allow the church to harass the families of soldiers in this manner. Freedom of speech is one thing, but telling a dead soldier's father that his son deserved to die because God hates the United States is another thing entirely.

 

[Formaldehyde]

I find it revealing how many conservatives vilify WBC, not for their rampant hate mongering, homophobia and bigotry, but specifically for targeting military funerals. If they didn't do that, would there be any criticism about them at all?

I think there is no doubt the pre-GWB Supremes would not have stood for restricting free speech in any such way no matter how obnoxious it was.

 

[JollyRoger]

Given that the audience booed a member of our military during one of the GOP debates, I was thinking that WBC was just part of the base.

 

[Formaldehyde]

WBC protesting in front of high schools? No problem.

WBC protesting anywhere near a military funeral? Bikers form a "human wall".


Link to video.

Is this a great country, or what?

 

[Leoreth]

Reading the title I hoped they banned the damn thing.

 

[JollyRoger]

Good thing they didn't try this on Chick-fil-a.