Argh!
God, please, no! Hat tip: Drew.
Archive for 1st November 2007
Sigh.
You’ve heard by now that the Fred Phelps gang lost their court case, and Albert Snyder, the father of the Marine whose funeral they protested, was awarded 11 million dollars. It’s all over the dextrosphere (here’s Joubert and StopTheACLU, who both celebrate the decision).
Before you send me hate mail, I’m as repelled and disgusted by the Phelps crew as you are. But I’m not going to celebrate the decision. Fortunately, I’m not the only one. Greg at Rhymes with Right says:
I may be about to make myself the most unpopular guy in the blogosphere with this post. I may even be accused of defending the indefensible. But I’m taken aback by the untoward celebration of a decision that imperils the free speech rights of Americans, even though the folks who lost this case are among the most despicable to slither from beneath a rock in the last several decades.
I’m talking, of course, about the nearly $11 million in damages a jury awarded to the father of a Marine killed in the war, against the Fred Phelps Klan for picketing the funeral with their usual array of disgusting signs and offensive chants, songs, and slogans.
[ . . . ]
So let’s be clear about the goal of this suit — it was to punish speech conducted in a public place, speech that is fully protected by the Constitution, on the grounds that it is hurtful, offensive, and outrageous. That troubles me very deeply, and it is my profound hope that the decision is thrown out on appeal as incompatible with the First Amendment.
Technically, the decision does not violate the First Amendment because it was a civil suit. However, I agree wholeheartedly that it sets a bad precedent. Actually, the precedent was set by another, very similar, lawsuit, which was widely celebrated across the political spectrum, when Morris Dees of the Southern Poverty Law Center successfully sued Tom Metzger.
This began the “litigation by lawsuit” movement, which has been going strong ever since. If you can’t pass a law for whatever reason, or if the Constitution gets in the way, sue in civil court. However obnoxious the defendents may be, this is repugnant because it’s doing an end run around the law.
Yes, I’m glad that Mr. Snyder won, but I shouldn’t be. None of us should be. This does nothing more than give even more fuel to a movement that itself should be against the law.
And think about it before you send me that hate mail.
Knock, Knock
Saw this on Andrew Bolt’s blog:
In the October ConservativeHome survey of 1,206 Conservative Party members, 53% voted for John Howard as their favourite centre right leader in the world today.
So what does that tell you, Mr. Cameron? Perhaps trying to out-liberal the liberals maybe isn’t the best idea after all.
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