Posted on 09/27/2006 5:21:48 PM PDT by ThirteenFoxtrot
Judge Allows Anti-Gay Military Funeral ProtestsLOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Kentucky's law forbidding protests within 300 feet of military funerals and memorial services was suspended temporarily Tuesday after a federal judge ruled it was too broad.
Survey: Free Speech For Rev. Phelps?
The law passed earlier this year was aimed at members of a Topeka, Kan., church who have toured the country protesting at military funerals. The Westboro Baptist Church claims the soldiers' deaths are a sign of God punishing America for tolerating homosexuality.
U.S. District Judge Karen Caldwell wrote that the law could restrict the free speech rights of people in nearby homes, sidewalks and streets, even if they cannot be seen or heard by funeral participants.
The 300-foot zone "is large enough that it would restrict communications intended for the general public on a matter completely unrelated to the funeral as well as messages targeted at funeral participants," Caldwell wrote in a ruling issued in Frankfort.
Those found guilty of violating the law, which also applies to memorial services, wakes and burials, would face up to a year in jail.
About a dozen states have similar laws in place, and Congress passed a law earlier this year prohibiting protests at military funerals at federal cemeteries.
Kentucky Attorney General Greg Stumbo said he would consider an appeal.
"I believe that society has an interest in honoring its war dead. Funerals are times of sacred and solemn reflection which must be protected from aggressive disruption," Stumbo said in a statement.
Lili Lutgens, general counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky, which filed the suit, said Caldwell "reinforced the importance of freedom of expression," and that the ACLU will seek a permanent injunction throwing out the law.
"We continue to support the commonwealth's efforts to protect funerals, but we know it's not necessary to violate the First Amendment to do that," she said.
Shirley Phelps-Roper, attorney for and member of Westboro Baptist Church, praised Caldwell's ruling.
"I'm surprised, but I'm happy about it," Phelps-Roper said.
The ACLU filed the lawsuit on behalf of Bart McQueary, a Mercer County man who has protested alongside the church members on three occasions. During their protests, members carry such signs as "Thank God for IEDs," the improvised explosive devices used by insurgents in Iraq.
State Sen. Tom Buford, R-Nicholasville, one of the sponsors of the law, said the 300-foot barrier is the same buffer zone used to keep people from campaigning at voting precincts during elections.
"It would seem we want to give at least as much reverence to a funeral as we do an election," Buford said. "It seems like a sad day for our military."
Lutgens said Caldwell's ruling could impact laws in other states, depending on how they are written and their similarities to Kentucky's statute.
This judge seriously needs to be impeached and removed from office.
This judge seriously needs to be impeached and removed from office.
I can see and sympathise with the reasons behind this decision, but my dislike for Phelps' practises is such that at the very least it shold be made plain that his right to complain in the event of repercussions (eg well-timed inersection of meaty fist and his oversized mouth) are lessened due to his extreme provocations.
Actually, let me advise against that. If anyone ran up to punch Phelps in the mouth there's a real danger they might fall in!
Yes, that First Amendment ticks me off also.
Dispite all the liberals calling Phelps a right winger he remains to this day a man who supported Al Gore.
This sucks, since the judge is a Bush 43 appointee.
U.S. DISTRICT JUDGE KAREN K. CALDWELL was born in Stanford, Kentucky, and graduated from Transylvania University (B.A., 1977) and the University of Kentucky College of Law (J.D., 1980). Judge Caldwell attended the University of Edinburgh Law School on a scholarship from the English-Speaking Union.
Prior to her appointment as U.S. District Judge for the Eastern District of Kentucky by President George W. Bush in 2001, Judge Caldwell was a partner in the Lexington, Kentucky office of the law firm of Dinsmore & Shohl, LLP, specializing in complex litigation, commercial law, and criminal defense law.
Judge Caldwell was designated by the Kentucky Bar Association as the "Outstanding Lawyer in Kentucky" in 1995. She was appointed by President George H. W. Bush to serve as United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky, where she served as the U.S. Justice Department's top lawyer in the eastern half of the state from 1991-93. In that capacity, Judge Caldwell supervised the U.S. Attorney's Office, and all civil cases and criminal prosecutions in the eastern half of Kentucky. Judge Caldwell was assigned to the Frankfort Division of the U.S. District Court last year, and she presides over all civil and criminal cases in the federal district court from Anderson, Carroll, Franklin, Henry, Owen, Shelby and Trimble Counties.
Judge Caldwell has been active in civic and community activities throughout Kentucky. She is a member of the Kentucky Bar Association. She is a past chair of the KBA Publications Committee, and former Editor of the Bench & Bar Magazine. She also has served on the KBA Character and Fitness Committee, and the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government Ethics Commission. Judge Caldwell is married to Lloyd Cress, who currently serves as Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection.
source: http://www.zoominfo.com/Search/PersonDetail.aspx?PersonID=18566637
Yes...it is a sad day. For our military, for our society, and for our judicial system. But, although the families of the fallen have been failed by an activist judge, they will NOT be failed by my 55,000 friends and I. The Patriot Guard Riders will be there.
Phelps is a douchebag. I don't give a damn about anyone's feelings about gays in the military--you don't dis 'em after they and their families have given the ultimate sacrifice. Regardless of how they get off.
Dang activist judge appointed by Bush. You can't trust any of these presidents to appoint judges who will rule the way all of us wants every time.
" U.S. District Judge Karen Caldwell wrote that the law could restrict the free speech rights of people in nearby homes, sidewalks and streets, even if they cannot be seen or heard by funeral participants."
I would think that if you live next to a cemetery, you would respect the services held there, put up with an occasional bugle or bagpipe.
People here need to read the "reverend" Phelps bio on Wikipedia.com to see just what he was PRIOR to orchestrating these disgusting displays at military funerals.
"Yes, that First Amendment ticks me off also."
Nobody has a 1st Amendment right to disrupt a military funeral. There are limitations to the amendment. Just like you can't slander someone, you can't disrupt something that's personal and sacred. And if you think these stupid radicals have that right, you're just as bad as they are.
This judge seriously needs to be impeached and removed from office.
At the least someone should pry her head out of her ass so she can breathe.
Attorney general Stumbo, is to the left of the ACLU. No help there. That's not to say he won't prretend to appeal.
He's done more to goof up KY politics than any other single person I can think of. A real B.J. Clinton wannabe ,scandals and all.
What you said. PROPS to you.
BTW, I prefer the concept of a well-directed blast from 4-inch fire hose as an appropriate response.
EVen that water blast wouldn't be enough to wash away their stench!
This is about something more than disgusting Phelps. It's about constitutionality.
Damn. Now people can't blame it on Clinton.
The right of free speech does not grant you the right to scream "fire" in a crowded theater.
No, you don't. And since that's not what we're talking about here, I'm not sure how that's relevant.
Is that what's happening here?
The fact that you cannot "follow [someone] around and scream obscenities, 6-inches from [his or her] ear anytime you're on public property" is irrelevant to this discussion because that is not what the invalidated statute seeks to address.
Your post suggests that because a certain type of speech may be regulated, it naturally follows that the type of speech at issue in this case may also be constitutionally limited. Because, however, the type of speech at issue in this instance is of a far different type than your example, your statement is irrelevant.
The speech were talking about his hateful, stupid, and unbelievably hurtful, but it is protected by the Constitution from these types of broad-brush prohibitions. The judge's ruling was correct.
“George Soros,” ‘Civ posted, apropos of nothing.
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