Supreme Court rules 8-1 that Westboro Church has the right to protest

Molon Labe · 03-04-11, 03:52 AM

The limits on Free Speech fall into two categories in US law: unprotected speech and time, place, and manner restrictions. Time, place, and manner restrictions were imposed by the state and were obeyed by the demonstrators, so those limits aren't at issue. Could the demonstration have been unprotected speech? No. The old "hate speech" argument doesn't work, because it doesn't have any real meaning beyond something that offends the listener. If that were the rule, there would be no 1st Amendment at all. There are very specific categories of unprotected speech and the court is not going to create any new ones. If the speech doesn't fit into one of those categories, it's protected. And political speech--as this was--is the category of speech that receives the highest protection.

These guys are the lowest form of life on the planet, but as far as the law goes, this wasn't even close.

03-04-11, 03:52 AM	#1
Molon Labe Silent Hunter Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Along the Watchtower Posts: 3,810 Downloads: 27 Uploads: 5	The limits on Free Speech fall into two categories in US law: unprotected speech and time, place, and manner restrictions. Time, place, and manner restrictions were imposed by the state and were obeyed by the demonstrators, so those limits aren't at issue. Could the demonstration have been unprotected speech? No. The old "hate speech" argument doesn't work, because it doesn't have any real meaning beyond something that offends the listener. If that were the rule, there would be no 1st Amendment at all. There are very specific categories of unprotected speech and the court is not going to create any new ones. If the speech doesn't fit into one of those categories, it's protected. And political speech--as this was--is the category of speech that receives the highest protection. These guys are the lowest form of life on the planet, but as far as the law goes, this wasn't even close. __________________