Here’s another one of those good thing bad thing situations. Whenever a government restricts the right of its people to assemble and express themselves I worry, but on the other hand, this should only have an impact on those Westboro Baptist loons, who really have no sensible or constructive message and are just out to draw attention to themselves by exploiting innocent people and tragic situations. I don’t really like it but I can’t help but like it a little, ya know?
Westboro Baptist Church protesters will soon be severely limited in their ability to disrupt military funerals, after Congress passed a sweeping veterans bill this week that includes restrictions on such demonstrations.
According to “The Honoring America’s Veterans and Caring for Camp Lejeune Families Act of 2012,” which is now headed to President Barack Obama’s desk, demonstrators will no longer be allowed to picket military funerals two hours before or after a service. The bill also requires protestors to be at least 300 feet away from grieving family members.
This aspect of the legislation was introduced by Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), who, at the urging of a teenage constituent, proposed new limitations on military funeral demonstrations as a response to a 2011 Supreme Court case that ruled such actions were protected under the First Amendment.
The 1st Amendment allows for restrictions as to time, manner, and place.I wish they could have extended the protection to all families who’ve been harassed by these thugs but some laws are being passed (and upheld) state by state.