Arizona lawmakers pass emergency legislation to block Westboro protesters

www.abc15.com...

TUCSON, AZ - Arizona lawmakers have just passed emergency legislation to protect mourners from protestors during planned funerals in Tucson this week. The radical Westboro Baptist Church earlier announced plans to protest the funerals of the victims in the Tucson shooting from Saturday.

That bill was passed just before 3 p.m. Tuesday, and is expected to be signed by Governor Brewer, tonight. "The bill requires them to be at least 300 feet away from the funeral from an hour before the funeral starts to an hour after it ends and that way people can grieve and love in peace," Sinema said. The legislation is said to be similar to what 40 other states have currently adopted

I'm glad they are doing something about blocking those Westboro morons. If it was my 9 year old daughter's funeral and those asses showed up with signs saying "God killed your little girl" etc I would probably go to jail for my actions against them.

Yeah, how nice you of to say you'd be going to jail.... I know what i'd do, probably the same as neither of us want to verbalize or typolize it. With greater freedoms comes greater responsibilities, unfortunately these types of sick ppl don't fully understand the constitution or just decency. It's sickening we have freaks like this in our country.

Bad idea. The first amendment has to come first. There are enough laws on the books to deal with people like Phelps, we don't need any more. And, since Mr. Phelps has no problem sueing any and everyone, wanna bet he doesn't take this to court as well?

Originally posted by adifferentbreed
Bad idea. The first amendment has to come first. There are enough laws on the books to deal with people like Phelps, we don't need any more. And, since Mr. Phelps has no problem sueing any and everyone, wanna bet he doesn't take this to court as well?

First, who cares? it's about him not being present at this girl's funeral NOW, we can deal with that later.

But secondly, if he does, he won't win. He uses that 'freedom' to disrespect people, and that is not what our freedoms are meant to be used for. Kinda like how we can't say the F word on TV - obviously there is freedom of speech, but the line has to be drawn somewhere to uphold civility in a society. In this case, Phelps will be both a)hated by the judge and b) on the losing side of the case anyways. He won't win, so don't worry about that.

I figured someone would say "what about freedom of speech". Do you really think that hate-mongers spitting in the eye of grieving families is what the founding fathers intended? What about common decency? What about "Do unto others", etc?

Law or no law, if it was my daughter, or anyone I cared about, and some jeering assholes showed up to make fun of their death, I'm going to make them sorry. Does that make me barbaric? Perhaps so, but no less civilized than the hate-mongers grinding their boots in the face of the grieved, all for the sake of getting publicity for their agenda.

reply to post by adifferentbreed


Of course he will take it to court . As a matter of fact , I foresee it going to the highest court in the land .

Regardless of this , or the outcome , common sense and human decency trumps any law , any day of the week .

I'm a stand-up joe , just like the next guy , and most of you on this site , but enough is enough .

And I won't even go into what an absurdity it is for these vile creatures to profess being spiritual , by any stretch of the imagination .

westboro Baptist Church and all who affiliate with it are low-life despicable fools .

These people can't even feel shame and human compassion . That makes them victims of their own misguided , delusional minds .

They are a bastardization of the human race .

beat me to it, haha

www.azcentral.com...

very interesting that this bill passed in record time, a bill that en cringes on our 1st amendment rights.

I do have to make a note that i dont agree with what that church is doing at all, (from what I've read in this article) but still... little by little the are ripping small pieces off of the bill of rights.

Now why couldn't you have just posted an UPDATE in one of the probably dozen existing threads on Westboro and Tucson? Sorry to be cranky, but you'd think 1.) nothing else was going on and 2.) these Westboro pukes just aren't that important to garner all this press.

reply to post by spacekc929


What do you mean who cares.......is it really worth messing with the first amendment over this pos? There are enough laws on the books now to prevent him from even being in the state of Az, let alone him attending the funeral. This is just another knee jerk reaction to a problem that could be handled differently. I feel for the girl, as much as for anyone else these people have protested, however, changing the law based upon this are uncalled for. At what point was it decided the best way to do anything in this country was to make a new law? We have tons of laws on the book, use them.

I am glad to hear they passed this emergency legislation - however 300 feet is still in the vicinity. Anyway they can roadblock these idiots (and all the names I can't call them on ATS) until at least after the funeral.

This is how Phelps funds his church, with lawsuits. The supreme court has upheld Phelps suits several times, and they sue for damages. Unfortunately, Arizona just funded more protests. I truly hope there is a special place in hell for scums like those of Westboro Baptist Church. May the whole congregation be sodomized for all eternity.

WBC are the internet trolls of the real world. And just like internet trolls, if you give them any attention whatsoever, they feed and thrive off of it.

The way to combat these real life trolls is to do the same thing you would do on the internet, ignore them, and they will go away. Giving these people press is in my opinion the wrong action to take, they should be ignored to the point of being ostracized.

If the entire world would just turn their backs on these nutcases, they would go away.

reply to post by spacekc929


Where does it stop?

Our country is based on freedom. As long as you do not infringe anyone's freedoms, you have the same freedoms. That is the premise.

The F word on TV infringes on no freedom. You are free to change the channel. Would I change the channel? Maybe. Would my parents? Absolutely. So does that give them the right to suppress what I might want to hear?

A picketing of a funeral is not infringing on freedoms. The parents are free to have the funeral. Is it hateful? Yes. Is it infringing on any rights? No.

The first ammendment is very clear n what it says. The government (state or federal) may not impose on ones right to say what they want.

That does not mean that the people can't exercise their right to counter-picket.

Again. Is it disgusting what this church is doing? Absolutely. Does any government have the right to silence them? Absolutely not.

--The point is simple. The First Amendment, guarantees all people have the right to the Freedom of Speech, under all circumstances. Even the assholes, choosing the most inappropriate times to show they are assholes, have the right to prove they are assholes. Once the government steps in to alter that freedom, even under the most justifiable of reasons, that freedom is challenged. Moreover, the helplessness of those being attacked by these assholes can be countered, as is proven with the counter-protests that turn the Westboro assholes into footnotes--

Link

How about instead of a law saying they cannot protest at funerals, that the funeral goers have the right to man a water cannon

One persons rights end where someone else's begin. Do they have the right to be ignorant, hate-mongering fools? Absolutely. Do those mourning the loss of a loved one have the right to privacy? Absolutely. The ignorant hate-mongers right to make complete fools of themselves is not any more important than the right to privacy of those in mourning. Making them stay 300 feet away from the funeral is not in any way revoking their right to free speech. They are free to exercise it where they aren't infringing on the rights of everyone else.

Having buried several friends and family members over the last few years, yes they are infringing on the rights of the families. Had these sorry sick low life scums shown up at one of my loved ones funerals, I am not sure that I would have been a responsible individual.

I believe in everyone's first amendment rights, however these folks violate all that is decent. May they all experience hell here on earth, and then hell for all eternity. These are the type of idiots that give all christians a bad name. They are no better than Osama bin Laden.

reply to post by Jenna


If the protesters are standing on public property, they are not invading anyone's privacy. If the funeral procession passes on a public street, they are not entitled to privacy on said street, since it is public.

If a man is masturbating in his car on a public street, and a child sees his actions while in a passing vehicle, should he be able to fight that since he was in his car, his privacy was violated?

The church or funeral home may restrict access onto PRIVATE property, but the government can't restrict speech on PUBLIC property if it is not infringing on any rights. If the let people pass on the sidewalks, and passing motorists are being stopped, then they have the right to say what they want.

Leave the 1st amendment alone first off.
Now ordinary protesters are always stonewalled by the government with red tape.
Why can't they simply deny WBC any permits to protest?
At the very least drag their feet so they miss the funeral altogether.

Amend the rules that allow protest permits for funerals. This alone would stop them cold, and allow the 1st amendment to stand untouched.

Common sense

Originally posted by BubbaJoe
Having buried several friends and family members over the last few years, yes they are infringing on the rights of the families.

. . .

What rights are being infringed upon, exactly?

I believe in everyone's first amendment rights, however these folks violate all that is decent. May they all experience hell here on earth, and then hell for all eternity. These are the type of idiots that give all christians a bad name. They are no better than Osama bin Laden.

So what is it? Either there is complete freedom of speech, or there is not.

reply to post by shadow watcher


Or if it outrages so many people, have all those people show up and counter them.

Or have the family ask that the media not show up. The church is only being an attention whore.