11-03-2007, 05:13 PM
Quote:I have mixed feelings about this court decision, to say the least. On one hand, these people are obviously scumbags and it's nice to see scumbags get punished once in a while... but on the other hand, while they certainly stretch the First Amendment, I always thought that they were within their rights. The Supreme Court allows Nazis to high step through Jewish neighborhoods - what's the difference? I tend to feel that that is even more heinous than a bunch of idiots holding up "God hates fags" signs at a funeral.
Obviously emotions always run high when people are burying their sons and daughters, but I have an itching feeling that Phelps is correct in saying that it will take 5 minutes to reverse this decision.
In the end, I think these WBC psychos just seem to want attention and this court decision and the resulting lengthy appeals process (AKA more news coverage) just makes things worse. Can't we just ignore those knuckle draggers and move on with our lives? If people just stopped paying attention, they wouldn't be able to get off on all the vitriol directed their way, and they would eventually disappear.
The difference is the grounds the family used to sue WBC: "defamation, invasion of privacy and intentional infliction of emotional distress." The claim is not that WBC ought be censored for what they're saying, but that they've overstepped certain social boundaries. There might be an analogy to telemarketers: invasion of privacy, deceptive sales pitches, and deliberate attempt to annoy. We've got the Do Not Call list. Is that infringing on the freedom of speech of rude, bothersome businesses?
For me, the question is whether the basis of the lawsuit makes any sense. I'm not sure how the family is claiming their son was defamed. Invasion of privacy seems like it could be tricky depending on how far privacy extends and whether the funeral was supposed to be open to more than just invitees. "Infliction of emotional distress" has always been iffy with me; I'd prefer if they just made a case for harassment.
The next question is the monetary award. Even if they did ruin the funeral, I'm sure it didn't cost $11 million. If they want to punish WBC, have WBC foot the bill of the funeral as well as another one to make up for their douchebagging the first.
-Lem