The father of a fallen soldier is suing the Westboro Baptist church for picketing his son's funeral.
They wanted their message heard, and they didn't care who they stepped over," Snyder testified on Wednesday, according to The Associated Press. "My son should have been buried with dignity, not with a bunch of clowns outside."Good for him! I think it is despicable what this man was subjected to by these so called "Christians". I'm surprised it took this long for someone to sue them.
Here's what is at stake:
Judge Richard D. Bennett, who is hearing the case, told the nine jurors that there are limits on free speech protection, listing categories that include vulgar, offensive and shocking statements and instructed jurors to decide "whether the defendant's actions would be highly offensive to a reasonable person, whether they were extreme and outrageous and whether these actions were so offensive and shocking as to not be entitled to First Amendment protection," according to the AP.Vulgar, highly offensive, shocking, that pretty much sums up what this "church" has been saying for way too long. I hope this jury sees that this kind of speech needs no protection of the First Amendment. How about the protection of this father who in his grief, had to endure such speech?
I'll be watching for the verdict which should be sometime next week, I'll post it here.
Free speech does have limits and I hope that the jury returns a guilty verdict.
