You might recall this
case from 2011. The Westboro Baptist Church is rabidly anti-gay. Members go to
funerals of gay soldiers. In October 2011, they disrupted a funeral for a
highly decorated Navy SEAL killed in Afghanistan by an improvised explosive
device. In God’s name, they picketed the funeral with signs such as “Thank God
for Dead Soldiers” and “Soldiers Die 4 Fag Marriage.”
Nebraska passed a law
requiring a 500 feet perimeter around a burial site that picketers cannot
intrude (“Nebraska Funeral Picketing Law”).
For perspective, a
football field, with both end zones, is 360 feet.
Westboro Baptist
Church filed suit, claiming that the perimeter violated their right of free
speech.
On Friday, a federal
appeals court upheld the perimeter as a reasonable “time-manner-place” limitation
on free speech. The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Friday that it
wasn’t unreasonable to limit the time and location of picketing because of
“vulnerable physical and emotional conditions” of funeral mourners.
The church will
appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Translation (for now):
Free speech isn’t absolute or unlimited—the government can place reasonable
limits on it.
Does this have
implications for other hate speech—for example, by white supremacy? That is a
good question for all of us to ponder.
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