I never thought I'd see the day that WBC would be considered heroes of free speech...
^ They're not, and nobody said that.
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
I never thought I'd see the day that WBC would be considered heroes of free speech...
I never thought I'd see the day that WBC would be considered heroes of free speech...
Could it be that WBC protesting at these funerals borders on the line of harassment?
Sure, their right to speech and assembly is constitutional, but what about the families being harassed as they try to bury their loved ones?
Its easy enough for us to ignore them, but a lot less so for the families of soldiers and murdered children, Im sure.

Think about it: You are punishable by law for slander, insult, racial discrimination and much more. Will appealing freedom of speech save your ass? Nope. This has nothing to do with government and majority opinion, its basic human rights.
where have they done that? i asked this question before and got no answer. if they HAVE done it, you are quite correct....threats, either spoken or implied are not protected (at least that is my understanding).
so, HAVE they threatened anyone? please point it out to me, because i do not believe they have. i think this is just a red herring to shut them up. if i am wrong, i will apologize.
![]()
ps-edit....it's not like they haven't done this before. they have been protesting at soldier's funerals for years (at least, that is my understanding)....have they committed any acts of violence. i have not heard of any. they just peacefully protest...maybe shouting, but, hey, ALL protesters do that. can anybody point me to ANY acts of violence, or threats of violence anywhere in this group's history....lots of threats have been directed at them, but i don't know of any coming FROM them.
In my opinion picketing a funeral is an act of intimidation. They are not demonstrating in a public place to make their opinions known to the general public. They selected their location in order to cause fear in the attendees. Their words are inflammatory. Mentally unstable people have been led to commit ugly acts by this kind of talk. It is intended to frighten innocent folks and put people at risk.
WBC is skilled at walking the fine line between what's legal and what's not. They won a case allowing them to protest at military funerals. I will bet they would lose a case around the right to protest at civilian funerals. Those are private affairs.
You can pretty much protest the government. They can defend themselves, but when innocent folks are targeted who have neither the desire to enter conflict nor the resources to defend themselves... If it's not the role of government to defend the innocent then I'm not sure it has any role at all.

Taken directly from twitter:
@YourAnonNews: #YAN #YAN Motel 6 Hartford - Southington, 625 Queen Street, Southington, CT 06489 #occupynewtown #opwestboro room 34 and 16 confirmed rally
A rally has started and apparently a bunch of pizzas got ordered to their rooms!![]()
beggar98 said:You guys are getting all bent out of shape for nothing. Being officially recognized as a "hate group" does not limit anyone's speech. In fact, there is no law regarding hate groups in the United States, nor is there a way to "legally" recognize any organization as a hate group. No one's First Amendment rights are at risk.
1st amendment rights allow you free speech from the government NOT from your fellow citizens.
Moving on...![]()
one could use the "act of intimidation" to stop union protestors. they are, after all picketing a PRIVATE company. i don't think the law makes any distinction between protesting a public entity and a private one. just as the union has the right to do what it does, so do these people have right to do what they do.
I'm not really sure if this is a specific incident you're talking about, but union's rights are guaranteed by the NLRA, not the Constitution. Those rights also come with stipulations. If the union violates said stipulations (e.g., secondary boycotts), it can get a visit from the regional NLRB office and might get slapped with an unfair labor practice and injunction from a judge.
Well, if you really want to split hairs, Section 7 rights are guaranteed by the Constitution insofar that the NLRA was ruled as Constitutional in 1937 as being related to interstate commerce, which was pertinent to the oversight of the federal government. However, labor relations speech is regulated by the NLRA. Employers can have ULPs filed against them for saying certain things or for restricting employees' expression of pro-union sentiments - but even that isn't black and white.
My point being, it's not as simple as "absolute free speech," particularly when it comes to the union analogy.
so, am i to understand that THEY didn't order these pizzas...just askin', cause it seems if they didn't, the Pizza place has just suffered a total loss.....hmmmmm.
![]()
You guys are getting all bent out of shape for nothing. Being officially recognized as a "hate group" does not limit anyone's speech. In fact, there is no law regarding hate groups in the United States, nor is there a way to "legally" recognize any organization as a hate group. No one's First Amendment rights are at risk.
There was a petition to recognize them as a hate group. Like you said I don't think there's anything in the law that defines a "hate group." Still, the petition got over 100,000 signatures.
Very good point sir.
Without resorting to the least bit of violence, I could easily come up with all sorts of ideas to make their lives fairly unpleasant.
I'll wait to post anything just yet, but I'm sure my fellow TB brethren could provide some interesting ideas in this regard.
We can always hope they were attained legally, or at the very least at the expense of the WBC....