Eshlemon
08-13-2012, 05:14 PM
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President Obama signed a new law last week that broadens federal limits on protests at military funerals for members or former members of the Armed Forces. The changes cover services held in private places as well as military cemeteries.
The new statute comes after the Supreme Court’s 8-to-1 decision in Snyder v. Phelps last year, which ruled that the First Amendment protects the right of picketers to protest at military funerals if they are addressing public issues. But Congress and many states have not taken that ruling to heart, and have, instead, created laws that may well impinge on the free speech of protesters.
The new federal statute is more carefully written, and, unlike some state laws, it does not address specific protesters, like members of the Westboro church. The buffer zone established remains between 300 and 500 feet from the funeral depending on its location.
But the law is more restrictive than the previous one. The time window doubles to two hours before and after, and one element of the statute raises serious questions about its evenhandedness. It forces protesters who violate a term of the law to prove that they did not intend to disturb the peace, shifting the burden of proof from the government. The provision is so vague that it lets police choose whom they consider troublemakers among protesters. Lawbreakers can be fined up to $50,000 and imprisoned for up to a year.
Westboro, Code Pink, and the like at funerals are scum but even as it leaves a bad taste in my mouth agreed with the Supreme Court . And the Supreme Court did provide leeway for the government with an opinion reasonable limits of time, distance, etc. can fall within regulatory powers of government. Looks like the governments are testing the courts reasonable limits and restrictions and will likely get challenged now. Especially the states which target specific protestors and the federal shifting the burden of proof from the government.
President Obama signed a new law last week that broadens federal limits on protests at military funerals for members or former members of the Armed Forces. The changes cover services held in private places as well as military cemeteries.
The new statute comes after the Supreme Court’s 8-to-1 decision in Snyder v. Phelps last year, which ruled that the First Amendment protects the right of picketers to protest at military funerals if they are addressing public issues. But Congress and many states have not taken that ruling to heart, and have, instead, created laws that may well impinge on the free speech of protesters.
The new federal statute is more carefully written, and, unlike some state laws, it does not address specific protesters, like members of the Westboro church. The buffer zone established remains between 300 and 500 feet from the funeral depending on its location.
But the law is more restrictive than the previous one. The time window doubles to two hours before and after, and one element of the statute raises serious questions about its evenhandedness. It forces protesters who violate a term of the law to prove that they did not intend to disturb the peace, shifting the burden of proof from the government. The provision is so vague that it lets police choose whom they consider troublemakers among protesters. Lawbreakers can be fined up to $50,000 and imprisoned for up to a year.
Westboro, Code Pink, and the like at funerals are scum but even as it leaves a bad taste in my mouth agreed with the Supreme Court . And the Supreme Court did provide leeway for the government with an opinion reasonable limits of time, distance, etc. can fall within regulatory powers of government. Looks like the governments are testing the courts reasonable limits and restrictions and will likely get challenged now. Especially the states which target specific protestors and the federal shifting the burden of proof from the government.