I have long advocated and fought for the constitutional right to free speech. But a little church in Kansas has my hometown in an uproar…and I find myself for the first time supporting limitations on protected free speech.
The Westboro Baptist Church (WBC) plans on making his presence known this week in my hometown of Bethalto, Illinois---as the community mourns the death of a 23-year-old Marine who succumbed after a roadside bomb claimed him while serving in Afghanistan. This is the same church that recently made news by trying to inflict itself on the family of Elizabeth Edwards, brave wife of former vice presidential candidate John Edwards. WBC said Mrs. Edwards would now go to hell to join her 16-year-old son who died in a car accident years ago.
The church has made a practice of trying to disrupt the funerals of fallen soldiers and they say they will try again Thursday in Bethalto. I wish them luck. Knowing my hometown they are in for a challenge. The people I grew up around won’t allow it. This could get ugly.
The real question here is------Does the first amendment allow a religious group to say anything they want….anywhere? The Supreme Court will answer that question in part when they hear the case of Albert Snyder this summer. Snyder sued WBC after it picketed his son’s funeral. He originally won the case and an $8-million dollar judgement. It would have shut WBC down…but an appeals court reversed the case and now it will go to the nation’s highest court.
I see this as a pure form of hate speech. This is like burning a cross in the front yard of an African-American. You are delivering a threatening message. The basic argument in the Westboro Baptist Church/Snyder Supreme Court lawsuit is whether there are limitations on Constitutionally-protected free speech. In Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire, the Supreme Court ruled that free speech does not protect “obscene utterances” and “certain personal slurs.” The lawsuit also considers the possibility that the free speech expression of the Westboro Baptist Church may have violated the Snyder family’s constitutionally protected right to freedom of religion – to hold and attend their son’s funeral. When two constitutionally protected rights come into conflict, the Supreme Court is asked to determine where the line between the two should be drawn.
Like the famous Voltaire quote----“I do not agree with what you have to say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it”…..I have often decided it is best not to tinker with the constitutional right of free speech. But I have always been taught that there is a limit to our speech. For instance, the law is clear in matters of libel and slander. Isn’t this proposed demonstration an effort to slander the life of 23-year-old Lance Corporal Kenneth Corzine?
Also, the courts have ruled that First Amendment rights may give way to the greater public good. For example, there is no First Amendment protection for someone who falsely yells "Fire!" in a crowded theater, because such speech endangers the safety of others. Such expression might give rise to a disorderly conduct charge or similar charge. In determining the constitutionality of hate-crime legislation, one primary question is whether the prohibited speech deserves First Amendment protection.
Lining up across the street from the Cornerstone Assembly of God Church on Thursday with signs and chants against the life of an American hero, is a form of hate speech and will surely incite a safety problem in Bethalto, Illinois.
I pity Police Chief Alan Winslow’s task. Keep the peace….and allow the family of the Lance Corporal the space they need to grieve the loss of their loved one.
Sometimes WBC claims it will show up….and then doesn’t.
Maybe they will stay at home.
I hope the rest of Bethalto is there…..
I know I will be….in spirit.
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