Can protesters wave gruesome signs? Supreme Court declines free speech case

[Ford_Prefect]

11. It helps if you actually read about the decision before you claim to KNOW what is correct.

From a post on Reality Check

According to court documents, Kenneth Tyler Scott and Clifton Powell set up an anti-choice, anti-homosexuality demonstration outside of St. John’s Church in the Wilderness on Palm Sunday. The demonstration mostly took place on the public street and sidewalk across the street from the church, and while the church was conducting an outdoor Palm Sunday service.

But, for reasons not explained by the court, Scott and Powell started their show on Church property. The two began shouting and waiving around graphic, doctored images of “fetuses.” Scott was so loud he disrupted the services. The images the two carried were so graphic that, according to the court, those attending the services began started to cry and tremble in fear and anger. The court made sure to note children attending the services were scared and as many as 100 parishioners left in response.

The lower court issued an injunction and the protestors appealed, arguing that Snyder v. Phelps, the Supreme Court that affirmed the First Amendment right of the Westboro Baptist Church members to protest the funerals of military service members protected their demonstrations here. The Colorado courts disagreed and said that while Snyder affirmed First Amendment rights to protest, it did not create a blanket right to disrupt private events in the name of free speech. Furthermore, the Colorado court added, the presence of children at the church services changes the nature of the analysis since their presence can create additional justifications for imposing some limits on the speech of others.


http://rhrealitycheck.org/article/2013/01/18/colorado-supreme-court-blocks-graphic-anti-abortion-images-from-display-in-front/