Monday, August 14, 2017

“Thank God for Dead Soldiers”: Update on Hate Speech Case

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. 

No comments: