If Theres a GOD, Then He hates fags

[steveox]

1st Amendment protects military funeral protesters

WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that the First Amendment protects fundamentalist church members who mount anti-gay protests outside military funerals, despite the pain they cause grieving families.

The court voted 8-1 in favor of the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kan. The decision upheld an appeals court ruling that threw out a $5 million judgment to the father of a dead Marine who sued church members after they picketed his son's funeral.

Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the opinion for the court. Justice Samuel Alito dissented.

Roberts said free speech rights in the First Amendment shield the funeral protesters, noting that they obeyed police directions and were 1,000 feet from the church.

"Speech is powerful. It can stir people to action, move them to tears of both joy and sorrow, and — as it did here — inflict great pain. On the facts before us, we cannot react to that pain by punishing the speaker," Roberts said. "As a nation we have chosen a different course — to protect even hurtful speech on public issues to ensure that we do not stifle public debate."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110302/ap_on_re_us/us_supreme_court_funeral_protests

Thats the bottom line,,Because the US Supreme court says so!

 

[Little-Acorn]

Justice Samuel Alito dissented.

And he said:

Our profound national commitment to free and open debate is not a license for the vicious verbal assault that occurred in this case.

Petitioner Albert Snyder is not a public figure. He is simply a parent whose son, Marine Lance Corporal Matthew Snyder, was killed in Iraq. Mr. Snyder wanted what is surely the right of any parent who experiences such an incalculable loss: to bury his son in peace. But respondents, members of the Westboro Baptist Church, deprived him of that elementary right. They first issued a press release and thus turned Matthew’s funeral into a tumultuous media event. They then appeared at the church, approached as closely as they could without trespassing, and launched a malevolent verbal attack on Matthew and his family at a time of acute emotional vulnerability. As a result, Albert Snyder suffered severe and lasting emotional injury. The Court now holds that the First Amendment protected respondents’ right to brutalize Mr. Snyder. I cannot agree.

Respondents and other members of their church have strong opinions on certain moral, religious, and political issues, and the First Amendment ensures that they have almost limitless opportunities to express their views. They may write and distribute books, articles, and other texts; they may create and disseminate video and audio recordings; they may circulate petitions; they may speak to individuals and groups in public forums and in any private venue that wishes to accommodate them; they may picket peacefully in countless locations; they may appear on television and speak on the radio; they may post messages on the Internet and send out e-mails. And they may express their views in terms that are “uninhibited,” “vehement,” and “caustic.” New York Times Co. v. Sullivan , 376 U. S. 254, 270 (1964) .

It does not follow, however, that they may intentionally inflict severe emotional injury on private persons at a time of intense emotional sensitivity by launching vicious verbal attacks that make no contribution to public debate. To protect against such injury, “most if not all jurisdictions” permit recovery in tort for the intentional infliction of emotional distress (or IIED). Hustler Magazine , Inc. v. Falwell , 485 U. S. 46, 53 (1988) .


...and it gets better from there.

Read Alito's dissent here: http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/09-751.ZD.html

 

[Dr.Who]

There is a God and He does not hate gay people.

Westboro is a bunch of kooks. But they still have a right to say nasty stuff and then to be sued for the harm they cause.

Alito was wrong. The right to free speech is far more important than the right to walk down the street or even attend a funeral without encountering things you find distasteful.

 

[dogtowner]

There is a God and He does not hate gay people.

Westboro is a bunch of kooks. But they still have a right to say nasty stuff and then to be sued for the harm they cause.

Alito was wrong. The right to free speech is far more important than the right to walk down the street or even attend a funeral without encountering things you find distasteful.

Alito's dissent was to acknowledge the tastelessness of Westboro and the popular hate people have for them. Its a feelgood v ote that everyone knew was meaningless. They are not divorced from reality. Political or otherwise.

 

[Dr.Who]

There is no evidence that God created aids as someone here has said. But it is important to note that AIDS does not discriminate between gay/straight, married/unmarried, male/female, etc. It is simply a disease that can be transmitted in a variety of ways including through sexual contact.

 

[Rick]

I've always backed the first amendment, and I'm not going to stop now - I support the decision. Of course, the people who heckle at funerals are the lowest possible garbage there is. Affected families should try to find a way to outwit them.

 

[steveox]

If a politican dies can we heckle at their families in their funerals ? Like If Jimmy Carter should die can we heckle at his Funeral? Secret Service wont arrest us will they? And that goes for Police Officers funerals im gonna heckle at them for all those traffic tickets they wrote to me. I hope a St Lucie county deputy gets shot and dies cause im gonna heckle at his funeral because of couple traffic tickets they gave me. If they arrest me i want my lawyer bring up the supreme courts decision to the judge and set this at as a double standard

 

[Dr.Who]

If a politican dies can we heckle at their families in their funerals ? Like If Jimmy Carter should die can we heckle at his Funeral? Secret Service wont arrest us will they? And that goes for Police Officers funerals im gonna heckle at them for all those traffic tickets they wrote to me. I hope a St Lucie county deputy gets shot and dies cause im gonna heckle at his funeral because of couple traffic tickets they gave me. If they arrest me i want my lawyer bring up the supreme courts decision to the judge and set this at as a double standard

The court ruled that it was not libel because the speech was about an issue in general and not directed at the soldiers.

If you start making comments directly about a person in the funeral you may be sued for libel.

Hoping that people die and wanting to heckle them is low.

 

[steveox]

Well I have the right to protest against the way Police Officers are doing things like not protecting us for example. Police Officers look after their own intrests, Like helping the state at local government for revinue like giving you traffic and parking citations when officers abuse the laws themselves. When the landlord evicts you from your home or apartment who helps them? Right the Police. Now when women are being threaten by their ex husbands the cops dont give a hoot to serve that restraning order instead they wait til the ex does something and then they arrest them. And when we try to protect ourselves and we shoot the criminal then yeah theyre arrest the guy but they turn right around and arrest you with an illegal possesion of a firearm. So why shouldnt i heckle at their funerals?

 

[steveox]

If you start making comments directly about a person in the funeral you may be sued for libel.

.

Really? better read this.

Father Of Dead Marine Ordered To Pay Legal Fees Of Westboro Baptist Church Protesters

BALTIMORE (AP) — The father of a Marine killed in Iraq and whose funeral was picketed by anti-gay protesters was ordered to pay the protesters' appeal costs, his lawyers said Monday.

On Friday, Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ordered Snyder to pay $16,510 to Fred Phelps. Phelps is the leader of the Westboro Baptist Church, which conducted protests at Marine Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder's funeral in 2006.

The two-page decision supplied by attorneys for Albert Snyder of York, Pa., offered no details on how the court came to its decision.

Attorneys also said Snyder is struggling to come up with fees associated with filing a brief with the U.S. Supreme Court.

The decision adds "insult to injury," said Sean Summers, one of Snyder's lawyers.

The high court agreed to consider whether the protesters' message is protected by the First Amendment or limited by the competing privacy and religious rights of the mourners.


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/29/father-of-dead-marine-ord_n_517614.html

Its the other way around. Its like this,, If the officers family want to sue me thats fine you better pay my lawyers leagal fees too.

 

[dogtowner]

There is no evidence that God created aids as someone here has said. But it is important to note that AIDS does not discriminate between gay/straight, married/unmarried, male/female, etc. It is simply a disease that can be transmitted in a variety of ways including through sexual contact.

.
It does seem to prefer homosexual men here.

 

[Dr.Who]

Really? better read this.

Father Of Dead Marine Ordered To Pay Legal Fees Of Westboro Baptist Church Protesters

BALTIMORE (AP) — The father of a Marine killed in Iraq and whose funeral was picketed by anti-gay protesters was ordered to pay the protesters' appeal costs, his lawyers said Monday.

On Friday, Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ordered Snyder to pay $16,510 to Fred Phelps. Phelps is the leader of the Westboro Baptist Church, which conducted protests at Marine Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder's funeral in 2006.

The two-page decision supplied by attorneys for Albert Snyder of York, Pa., offered no details on how the court came to its decision.

Attorneys also said Snyder is struggling to come up with fees associated with filing a brief with the U.S. Supreme Court.

The decision adds "insult to injury," said Sean Summers, one of Snyder's lawyers.

The high court agreed to consider whether the protesters' message is protected by the First Amendment or limited by the competing privacy and religious rights of the mourners.


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/29/father-of-dead-marine-ord_n_517614.html

Its the other way around. Its like this,, If the officers family want to sue me thats fine you better pay my lawyers leagal fees too.

um, uh, I hate to be disagreeable, but, where is the evidence that Westboro said anything about the people in that funeral?

 

[Dr.Who]

.
It does seem to prefer homosexual men here.

Nope. It prefers promiscuous people who engage in high risk sex.

 

[dogtowner]

Nope. It prefers promiscuous people who engage in high risk sex.

53% male on male sex + 4% those guys who happen to be junkies vs 31% hetero high risk. 12% hetero junkies.

But as you say, anyone can get it if they do foolish things.

 

[steveox]

53% male on male sex + 4% those guys who happen to be junkies vs 31% hetero high risk. 12% hetero junkies.

But as you say, anyone can get it if they do foolish things.

So Rev Fred Philps is right.. GOD HATES FAGS!