The church members testified they are following their religious beliefs by spreading the message that the deaths of soldiers are due to the nation's tolerance of homosexuality.
Their attorneys argued in closing statements Tuesday that the burial was a public event and that even abhorrent points of view are protected by the First Amendment, which guarantees freedom of speech and religion.
If the burial was a religious burial, they would be violating the family's First Amendment rights by infringing on their religious beliefs.
Phelps, his nutcase family, and their followers have the right to say whatever they want, but when they start infringing on others rights by the location and/or timing of their protests, they have to be made to pay. I obviously don't like what he has to say and don't think it has any merit, however, he can say it all he wants in the safety of his own home or church back in Kansas. If they want to say the same things in Maryland in front of an Armed Forces cemetery, more power to them. But when they do it at the time of a burial, they have crossed the line.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2007-11-01 02:04 am (UTC)If the burial was a religious burial, they would be violating the family's First Amendment rights by infringing on their religious beliefs.
Phelps, his nutcase family, and their followers have the right to say whatever they want, but when they start infringing on others rights by the location and/or timing of their protests, they have to be made to pay. I obviously don't like what he has to say and don't think it has any merit, however, he can say it all he wants in the safety of his own home or church back in Kansas. If they want to say the same things in Maryland in front of an Armed Forces cemetery, more power to them. But when they do it at the time of a burial, they have crossed the line.
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