Westboro Baptist Church and The First Amendment

Tuesday, April 6, 2010
I'm no fan of Fred Phelps and the Westboro Baptist Church. Anyone who's read my blog for any length of time knows I think him and his entire congregation needs to die in a fire.

But that doesn't mean his Constitutional rights should be abrogated.

Because Jim Wright of Stonekettle Station has been lurking inside my head and stealing my blog ideas, I'm going to direct you over there for this topic. Jim pretty much speaks for me on this one.

I don't agree with Fred Phelps and his insane clown posse, but they have a Constitutional right to be hateful, horrifying fucksticks. Yes, even at a fallen service member's funeral.

____________

Another member of the infamous UCF has posted a thoughtful and thought provoking post on this case, including why it's not really about the First Amendment at all. Eric is an actual attorney, and so knows whereof he speaks, as opposed to yours truly, who typically just talks out of her ass. You can find Eric's post here.

12 comments:

Jim Wright said...

Well, as long as I'm inside your head...let's poke around and see what else you've got I might want.

Poke

poke poke

Janiece said...

JIM, GET OUT OF MY BRAIN.

neurondoc said...

Janiece, I can help get him out of there.

::sharpens tools::

Janiece said...

Great. Brain surgery.

JIM, THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT.

The Mechanicky Gal said...

"Being Janiece Murphy" now playing at a theater near you!

Eric said...

Singing--

"The lunatic is in my head...
The lunatic is in my head.
You raise the blade,
You make the change
You rearrange me 'til I'm sane.
You lock the door, and throw away the key;
There's someone in my head,
But it's not me."


Ah, quoting Pink Floyd lyrics with exaggerated profundity! It's like I'm in eighth grade all over again! Only fatter and with less acne!

Darren said...

I don't know. I'm generally the first to espouse that "I despise what you say, but I'll fight to the death to defend your right to say it."

On the other hand, free speech does -- and should -- have limits. Those limits are the same ones that apply to any freedom: yours ends where mine starts.

If the Westboro Asshats want to protest on public property, despite the offensiveness of their message, yes they have that right. But when they spread their messages of hate in a way that's calculated to be in-the-face of a grieving family -- that's harassment.

Those family members have a right to grieve in peace as well, and when protestors behave in a way that deprives those families of that right, they've overstepped the bounds of their own rights.

Janiece said...

Hi Darren.

You make a good point, and I do understand what you're trying to say. I simply don't have the chops to comment on the legal aspects of the case, but Eric, who's actually an attorney, does. You can find his thoughtful (and thought provoking) post here.

I'll update my entry with this link, as well.

Darren said...

Janiece, that's an interesting article. It seems he more-or-less concurs with my layman's opinion (not that he's actually, you know, seen it :D), but that the issue is sadly more complicated than I thought.

Thanks for sharing.

beemodern said...

My 7th grade teacher, Dave Rogers in Monitor, WA (I'm still in love with him 40 years later), explained individual rights to us by standing in front of the classroom with a student on each side of him. He extended his arms and fists straight out to his sides until they barely touched the two students and he said, "This is where your individual rights as an American ends; where the next person begins." I never forgot the visual and it was very easy to understand.

Janiece said...

Welcome, beemodern. That's a great idea, and very timely.

Warner (aka ntsc) said...

Mail a contribution to Gay Mens Health Crisis or similar in the name of the WBC.

I understand a fair bit has been collected at WBC protests for this purpose.