[Dean's World] Dean: Funeral Protests

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Posted by Dean:
Funeral Protests
http://www.deanesmay.com/posts/1146811904.shtml


   The folks at Stop The ACLU have asked me to comment on this: [1]ACLU
   Files Lawsuit Challenging Funeral Protest Bill.

   I'd have to say that this lawsuit helps illustrate why I am no longer
   a card-carrying member of the ACLU, although I used to be.

   The old shibboleth is to say "free speech doesn't mean you can should
   'fire' in a crowded theater." That is completely the wrong argument.
   It distracts from the issue, because anyone can see that this isn't
   about threatening lives. Protestors outside a funeral who are being
   peaceful aren't a threat to life and limb, for the most part.

   That said, the law is a good law, and the ACLU lawsuit is wrong. But
   let's get our arguments straight: this isn't about shouting "fire" and
   endangering lives. It's about harassment.

   You aren't allowed to hold a parade down my street at 1:00 in the
   morning without a permit. You aren't allowed to play super-loud music
   on loudspeakers in the middle of a business district, disrupting the
   normal flow of commerce. You aren't allowed to bang on my door to try
   to collect a debt at 3 am. You are not free to make obscene phone
   calls. You are not entitled to bang on my window and scream "VOTE FOR
   BUSH!" You are not entitled to sell pornography to minors. And so on
   and so forth.

   Your right to bear arms doesn't entitle you to own nuclear weapons.
   Your right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure doesn't
   mean that the government always has to have a warrant from a judge to
   search you. If a river runs through your property, your right to that
   property doesn't entitle you to pollute the water for everyone
   downstream. Your right to conduct peaceful commerce does not entitle
   you to lie to your customers. And so on and so farth.

   I do not see how harassing a grieving family at a funeral qualifies
   under "free speech," nor do I see laws that require a respectful
   distance on such occasions as in any way a violation of anyone's
   Constitutional freedoms. You have a billion ways to express your
   displeasure at government policy without harassing a grieving family.

   I do not always disagree with the ACLU, but they are so deranged in so
   many cases like this that I simply cannot in good conscience support
   them anymore. I mean it: they are not simply wrong here, they are
   deranged.

References

   1. http://stoptheaclu.com/archives/2006/05/01/aclu-files-lawsuit-challenging-funeral-protest-bill/