I wanted to bring this to everyone's attention to demonstrate that sometimes the ACLU
goes way over the line.
On Friday, the ACLU filed a lawsuit on behalf of the Westboro Baptist Church, the infamous Fred Phelps-run institute of hatred and bigotry. The lawsuit is to overturn the Missouri law banning their hateful protests from funerals of soldiers.
It's a short story, but I'm appalled that the ACLU took this one on. I'll explain why after the jump.
First, here's part of the story:
A Kansas church group that protests at military funerals nationwide filed suit in federal court, saying a Missouri law banning such picketing infringes on religious freedom and free speech.
The American Civil Liberties Union filed the lawsuit Friday in the U.S. District Court in Jefferson City, Mo., on behalf of the fundamentalist Westboro Baptist Church, which has outraged mourning communities by picketing service members' funerals with signs condemning homosexuality.
The church and the Rev. Fred Phelps say God is allowing troops, coal miners and others to be killed because the United States tolerates gay men and lesbians.
Missouri lawmakers were spurred to action after members of the church protested in St. Joseph, Mo., last August at the funeral of Army Spec. Edward L. Myers.
The law bans picketing and protests "in front of or about" any location where a funeral is held, from an hour before it begins until an hour after it ends. Offenders can face fines and jail time.
The lawsuit is terrible, because first of all, they are representing the worst of the worst. Yes, I understand the ACLU is there to protect our civil rights, regardless of whose may be infringed by law or action of authorities. It's a good mission statement.
In this case, though, there's nothing unconstitutional or infringing about the law. As I understand it, funerals are private events, not considered part of the public domain, and therefore the hate-mongerers don't have the right to hold protests. In fact, I'd say they are violating the right to privacy of the mourners. It's just like how you can't get into a wedding without an invitation.
The ACLU has done wrong here. They've taken up a cause of people who advocate for the violation of the civil rights of millions of people, and there's no solid ground to my knowledge for them to stand on.
Write the ACLU. Tell them what you think about this.