Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Breaking: USSC Upholds Right to Protest at Military Funerals
CNN is reporting the United States Supreme Court has ruled Westboro Baptist Church has the right to stage anti-gay protests at military funerals.
UPDATE: CNN now has a story up. The decision was 8-1.
--CJR
https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/tortsprof/2011/03/breaking-ussc-upholds-right-to-protest-at-military-funerals.html
I'm surprised no one here has analyzed the torts claims that the Supreme Court found were trumped by the First Amendment. I tried to balance the IIED claim against the First Amendment and found -- surprise! -- that the IIED claim should have been sustained. Here are two somewhat long posts on the issue:
The first, provocatively entitled "How I'm Learning to Hate the First Amendment," is here: http://wordinedgewise.org/?p=1479
The second, a follow-up, is here: http://wordinedgewise.org/?p=1675
Will no torts scholars stand up for compensation and deterrence in these cases? Consider that the plaintiff was a private citizen who only wanted to mourn his son...in peace.
Posted by: John Culhane | Mar 5, 2011 10:26:34 AM