1   There are no words.....

2 Free speech at drive-through windows is the most sacrosanct form of speech under the Constitution.

3 Can't wait for the piss on Phelps grave, theme park opens.

4 My priest calls the motorcycle vets (thugs) whenever he has a service funeral. They keep these nuts away nicely. I always stop and thank them.

5 The Fifth Amendment free speech guarantee has an unambiguous exception for speech by "batshit crazy obnoxious bags of douche."  It was Madison's idea.

6 Teddy K is getting a seat warmed up for Phelps and his cronies.  Satan has some "special treats" in store.

7 Can't wait for the piss on Phelps grave, theme park opens.

Posted by: Buzzsaw

The AOSHQ pudding flume ride would be a nice touch.

8 ... they have only a passing familiarity with reality history and perspective.

9 I'm getting ready to go to work where AoSHQ is blocked for being a known purveyor of perversion. So my obvious questions are 1) Where's the pr0n at? and 2) why have you bastards been holding out on me?

10 Dave, I agree 100%.

11 I'm weird, I guess. I signed up to defend people's rights without politics entering into it.  I defend these douchebags' rights the same as I defend the tea party folks' rights the same as I defend the MoveOn.org douchebags' rights.  Am I missing something?

12 And by the way, this is why I'm a proud member of the Patriot Guard Riders.

13 Whoa, I didn't realize Michael Phelps was such an asshole.

14 da kine, they have the right to be douchebags.

I have the right to stand in a line with a bunch of other guys on bikes and block the family's view of them.

15 I have no problem with them speaking there warped minds. I also would be completely impartial sitting on a jury in an assault case resulting from an horrific beatdown administered by passers-by.

16

This writeup gives a little more detail on this case

 

Although neither story gives this info, my understanding was that the “protest” by these cretins took place on the highway leading to the cemetery and not at the actual funeral itself.

 

Although I think their actions are despicable and outrageous I donÂ’t think SCOTUS will or should rule in favor of the plaintiffs here.

 

What should have happened is that a collection of local rednecks should have pulled up next to Phelps and his crowd BEFORE the funeral and told them to either get their asses down the road or get them kicked.  A binary solution set there.

17

"I would not lay down my life (or lift a finger) to defend their right to speak publicly if all they were doing was ordering a bacon cheeseburger at Jack in the Box."

C'mon...we're talkin' bacon!

Which Phelps probably refuses to eat, so fuck him.

18

The 1st amendment is terrific and all, but if some grieving dad decided that putting a few holes in one or all of these dung beetles might make him feel .000001% better about the death of his loved one?

Well, I gots two words:

jury nullification

 

19

Well, not a legal scholar myself, but as I recall the First Amendment states quite clearly that congress can pass no law that abridges a persons right to free expression. 

It says absolutely nothing about one private citizen suing another private citzens for damages incurred as a result of the party of the first part being certifiably bat shit crazy and having the emotional sensitivity of a concrete pillar holdling up an overpass on I-5.

Hey, I'm all for free speech, don't get me wrong.  I think these morons should feel free to grab their signs and spout their crap outside whatever military base suits their fancy.  Or march on Washington if you like, more power to you.

But to intentionally target a person who has just lost a child is beyond reprehensible. 

20 I'm weird, I guess. I signed up to defend people's rights without politics entering into it.  I defend these douchebags' rights the same as I defend the tea party folks' rights the same as I defend the MoveOn.org douchebags' rights.  Am I missing something?

Posted by: da kine

 

Yes. Yes you are. These coniving jerks harrass people at funerals. They make a specious claim that becuase the cemetary is in the open, and because hearses are confined to roads, that this makes them 'public', and a target for such attacks. Please note that at the last Dem national convention, all protests were limited and kept behind a barbe wire enclosure.

The gag here is that they then sue for civil rights violations. It's a money making scam. The best part is that they know that they will survive the experience to enjoy the payoff. If they tried this scam at the local mosque, then it becomes more problematic.

21 da Kine is right. I wouldn't piss on these evil morons if they were on fire, but as long as they're exercise 1st amendment rights they should be left alone. Although blocking them from view of the ceremony is just fine with me.

22 11 I'm weird, I guess. I signed up to defend people's rights without politics entering into it.  I defend these douchebags' rights the same as I defend the tea party folks' rights the same as I defend the MoveOn.org douchebags' rights.  Am I missing something?

Posted by: da kine at March 08, 2010 04:24 PM (IaZFb)

That's cool.  Cuz I like to drop my pants and shake my hairy ass in the face of your mother as she walks down the street.  Just so she can see my barking spider.  Can I count on your legal help should any sort of legal suit be filed against me for the above?

Now your mother is a saint of a woman.  And her children are all reflections of her beautific nature.  Yourself included.  And the above paragraph is not actually true and I don't intend to do anything like that to your mother.  But answer the fookin' question...

23

Just remember this!

 

 If we allow this attack on free speech to stand, then news networks will be attacked by powerful politicians while other politicians will enter into illicit relationships with reporters.

 

You heard it here first.

24

So are they going to allow cross burnings again as a 1st amendment right?  Remember they upheld banning that 6-3 in 2003. 

Posted by: polynikes at March 08, 2010 04:35 PM (m2CN7)

I was and remain sympathetic to da kine's reasoning even though Phelps and his ilk disgust me  to the very core of my being. But after being reminded that the court has also banned another disgusting political display, I would have to say the court should go along with that precedent and ban Phelps also.

25 Um, Ed? I think dropping trou in front of a woman/child etc is indecent exposure, so that would be a completely different legal issue than free speech. Sorry. I am very frustrated that these Westboro fools claim they are Christians. Nothing in their actions display Christ-like behavior, they simply are a lightning rod for the Christian haters who compare all of us to them. I have a hard time protecting their speech, just as I would have a hard time protecting neo-nazi or Louis Farrakhan's free speech, when that speech is simply hate-filled vitriol. But unfortunately, to say that one type of speech is wrong is that nasty slippery slope. Now, should they be issued restraining orders, and forced to keep a thousand yards away from funerals and banned from using loudspeakers? You betcha. Give them their free speech, just make it difficult to hear.

26 IMIO - Freedom of speech (expression as it's interpreted) is not absolute.  Even though funerals take place in public (because how the hell else could they take place), there should be an element of the private that other expression should not be permitted to violate and there are a myriad of examples of situations where this is applicable.

27 Even the lefties on the court cannot protect the Phelps crew's idea of "freedom of speech" or "freedom of religion" on this one.

28

Here's an idea. Why don't we give them the same set of rights that peaceful pro-life protestors get within 100 yards of a Hitler's day care center abortion clinic? They can enjoy the experience of being branded automatically as a violator of federal law.

 

Ain't that something that we can all agre upon?

29 These idiots protested Jerry Falwell's funeral, and said he was going to hell because he didn't think like them. They want notoriety, and I think that Blue Hen made a very valid point that they are also doing this for money. Essentially, anyone who would go to this much trouble to sue/protest/etc has a monetary incentive built into their planning. They may be able to have "free speech", and sorry, I think free speech means free speech, (try living in a commie/theocratic country where there is no such thing-it's pretty damn hard) but I don't have a problem with a civil suit that makes it difficult for them to spew their "free speech." If the father was awarded damages for pain BECAUSE OF their speech, that's okay. If the damages make it difficult for them to afford to go to these funerals, even better. It's like the dang Dixie Chicks. Yeah, they had free speech to criticize Bush overseas. And we had the free speech to bulldoze their stinking albums, and destroy their profit making empire. Because that's the FREE MARKET. When you keep things FREE, crap generally is sorted out pretty well.

30 "these Phelps assholes are batshit crazy obnoxious bags of douche, and I would not lay down my life (or lift a finger) to defend their right to speak publicly if all they were doing was ordering a bacon cheeseburger at Jack in the Box" Read the case, if Phelps loses, it would make it profitable for people to sue when you hurt their feelings. As a blogger you should know this is a BAD, BAD things.... regardless for how distasteful the Phelpsians are.

31

I am in on contributions to the billboard that goes across the street from Westboro that says "Fred Phelps is a Dickweasel."

Put me in for a grand.

32 Hey Blue Hen, are you aware of the way that Seaford De. handled the westboro clowns? Someone slashed the tires on their van, the crowd of mourners surged threateningly in their direction and they had to be escorted away by Staties in a local fire van.
Bout right I say.
Oh and the so called Priest who thinks the Thunderguards are thugs is lacking in his understanding of justice.

33 Speaking of the inciting a riot thing, does that fall under the same category as fightin' words? I have no idea how all that works out but I imagine if those folks showed up and did their thing I'd probably be in jail for assault.

34 Anyone who as adamant against homosexuals as this Phelps piece of shit is, is overcompensating in a huge way for wanting to be a butt burglar himself.

35

I think a web page showing pictures, home addresses and home phone #'s of the Westboro garbage is in order.  Hey, First Amendment, right?

36 As a Patriot Guard Rider, I'd like a chance to sodomize them on the cross!

37 You know, in times past the men of the town would have beat the hell out of Phelps and his sons, then put their black-and-blue asses on the next bus out of town.  I hope some judge orders this grieving father a zillion dollars, but I don't see how it's progress over a well-deserved beating.

38 The gag here is that they then sue for civil rights violations. It's a money making scam. The best part is that they know that they will survive the experience to enjoy the payoff. Phelps is a lawyer and has used his legal skillz to annoy and harass and shake off consequences for years.

39 I think Phelps should protected by the 1st Amendment.  I just think his behavior is "fighting words," and should be treated as such.  If you ask for a beat-down, you ought to receive it.

I feel the same way about cross burnings and flag burnings.

40

I just think his behavior is "fighting words," and should be treated as such. 

In order for speech to be considered "fighting words" you have to be in the same vacinty as the target of the speech. As I said earlier their protest was not actually in the cemetary or at the funeral.

Also, cross-burning was not ruled out totally by SCOTUS, they were wishy-washy which meant they couldn't come to an agreement so they would not rule totally for or against it. Their final ruling was that if the cross was burnt to "intimidate" then the laws against it could be upheld.

41 In order for speech to be considered "fighting words" you have to be in the same vacinty[sic] as the target of the speech. As I said earlier their protest was not actually in the cemetary or at the funeral.

I guess I'm confused.  If they were close enough to cause the kind of distress we're all talking about here, then by any reasonable definition of the word, they were in the vicinity.

42

If they were close enough to cause the kind of distress we're all talking about here, then by any reasonable definition of the word, they were in the vicinity.

It is not mentioned in the article but as I recall from the actual news story they held their "protest" along side the highway on the way to the cemetary and there was only a few people in the protest.

43

My position on this is this; sure they are scum but we need to be damn careful about what we are wishing for here.

Shuting down assholes like this could easily lead to shutting down the stuff like the Tea Party marches.

44
These are the Phelps of Westboro Baptist,  who are registered democrats,  right?

Look it up.  The scum bag patriarch has run for office several times as a democrat.

45 So it would be bad form to back the hearse over old Fred?

46 BTW, Patriot Guard Riders and their brother group the Legion Riders are out outstanding people and it's way out of line to call them thugs.

47 I want to the Supremes beat the crap out of WBC. They should be their own Justice League. Sotomayor - She's got to have a switchblade hidden in her robes somewhere. And Ginsburg can still pack a punch.

48 Phelps lost his license to practice law. However, everyone else in the family is an attorney.

49 they held their "protest" along side the highway on the way to the cemetary and there was only a few people in the protest

Be a real shame if some old man lost control of his vehicle and went off the road - could take out the whole family / pit of lawyers.

50

Our online shop sales GHD range of GHD Hair Straighteners products. If you are buying GHD Straighteners and Ghd flat iron online through the internet, then we will give you more discounts.In addition, free postage.

51 Fred Phelps is, of course, a Democrat. He's run several times for KS Gov on the democrat ticket. His son, Fred Phelps, Jr., hosted fund raisers for Al Gore in '88, and ran Gore's campaign in Eastern Kansas. Phelps Jr. was a Gore delegate to the Convention in '88. They were invited to the Clinton Inaugural in both '92 and '96. I find it amusing that Republicans find the need to disassociate themselves with these Democrat operatives, but the DNC does not. What a joke.

52

Hate speech is not covered in the 1st Amendment, SCOTUS has ruled as such in the past.  The messages that Westboro spouts are not political views but a form of hate speech directed at a specific cross section of the population.  Thus it would seem that this is not protected speech.

53 I don't think Phelps and his spawn are bat-shit crazy.  I think they are using a contrived 'religion' to attack the military.

54 God hates nobody. But he thinks Fred Phelps is an asshole.

55 The thing is that funerals are private and obituaries are not invitations.  It is an announcement of a death and if somone wants to come and pay their respects to the family, they are free to do so.  It does not mean that every scaff and raff in the country can come and pay their disrespects to the family.  Even most grave sites are private.  The families own all these lots with the oversite of a private company.  I should think that these disruptive people can be barred from the funerals because they don't know the families and they didn't know the deceased.  These pseudo Christians are a disgrace.  Real Chrisitians are not this callous and uncaring.  This is just a cult that demeans Christianity.

56 Uh oversight