ACLU Sues for Anti-Gay Group That Pickets at Troops' Burials

[ECH1969]

A Kansas church group that protests at military funerals nationwide filed suit in federal court, saying a Missouri law banning such picketing infringes on religious freedom and free speech.

The American Civil Liberties Union filed the lawsuit Friday in the U.S. District Court in Jefferson City, Mo., on behalf of the fundamentalist Westboro Baptist Church, which has outraged mourning communities by picketing service members' funerals with signs condemning homosexuality.

The church and the Rev. Fred Phelps say God is allowing troops, coal miners and others to be killed because the United States tolerates gay men and lesbians.

Missouri lawmakers were spurred to action after members of the church protested in St. Joseph, Mo., last August at the funeral of Army Spec. Edward L. Myers.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/22/AR2006072200643.html

[Poll_Blind]

1. Good for Free Speech. These a**holes, led by Phelps, are...

...dirtbags but banning their right to speech, even odious speech, endangers our own rights and sets a precedent which will one day be used against us.

PB

[sgxnk]

2. i totally agree

the 1st amendment matters

if you can't support the free speech rights of those whom you disagree with, you have no right to enjoy its protections imo

[KittyWampus]

3. Harrassment isn't "speech".

[sgxnk]

4. yes, in many cases it IS

[cboy4]

5. Phelps and his KKKlan wake up every day thinking of ways to make my life

miserable.

They are filth.

However, I support the ACLU and free speech - - - as despicable as this form of speech is.

[Burma Jones]

6. Well, the ACLU walks the walk

and I support that.....

Phelps and his crew have brought diverse people together to show grieving families that while we have to tolerate Phelps' shit, we can also drown it out......

[misternormal]

7. I understand free speech, but...

... does the 1st amendment cover protests on private property?

Are cemeteries private or public property? If they are public property, then not much can be done, but if the cemeteries are private property, can not the members of these obvious hatred groups be kept off of the property?

Maybe I'm off the mark, but perhaps there is a simple, legal solution.

Correction on edit.

[cboy4]

8. The Phelps family is all lawyers. They know the law and they know how

to work the system.

As far as I know, all of their hate protests take place on public sidewalks.

[davidinalameda]

9. the more people who hear Phelps

the better the rest of us sound

[MercutioATC]

10. The ACLU is doing exactly what it's SUPPOSED to do.

...it's fighting for our civil liberties.

We may not always agree with the cases they take, but their purpose is completely pure...and that's something to be appreciated.