From the Baltimore Sun, a federal appeals court has granted an injunction to the Fred Phelps gang, allowing them to rub salt in the wounds of the family of fallen soldiers.
Thursday, a three-judge panel of the Eighth Circuit granted Phelps-Roper the injunction, pending a full hearing on the merits of her claim. Typically, an injunction is granted if the petitioner can prove she is likely to prevail on her lawsuit. In this case, the panel found that Missouri’s law was likely unconstitutional because “any interest the state has in protecting funeral mourners from unwanted speech is outweighed by the First Amendment right to free speech.”
The matter will now return to the federal trial court in Kansas City for a full hearing on the merits of Phelps-Roper’s suit. In the meantime, she and members of her church can resume picketing military funerals.
Though their message is despicable, indefensible theologically, and casts a poor light on the Good News of Jesus Christ, I would defend their right to public protest in most public venues.
However, a funeral, even though they usually take place in a public place (church, chapel, etc.) are at their heart deeply personal and private. They are for the grieving of the loved ones of the person who died; no other agenda is welcome there and none should be forced on the grieving.
I hope that when this matter is fully heard, there will be more sanity from the court.
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