In the aftermath of the Tucson tragedy, the Arizona legislature - at the behest of Governor Brewer - unanimously passed emergency legislation, the intended purpose of which was to prevent members of the Westboro Baptist Church from protesting at the funeral of a nine year old victim, Christina Taylor-Green. As enacted, the statute provides that "A person shall not picket or engage in other protest activities, and an association or corporation shall not cause picketing or other protest activities to occur, within three hundred feet of the property line of any residence, cemetery, funeral home, church, synagogue or other establishment during or within one hour before or one hour after the conducting of a funeral or burial service in that place...For purposes of this section, 'other protest activities' means any action that is disruptive or that is undertaken to disrupt or disturb a funeral or burial service."
The Westboro Baptist Church is composed of a cult-like group of zealots who, over the years, have protested at the funerals of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. Its home page proudly proclaims that "The Westboro Baptist Church (WBC) of Topeka, Kansas still exists today as an Old School (or, Primitive) Baptist Church. We adhere to the teachings of the Bible, preach against all form of sin (e.g., fornication, adultery [including divorce and remarriage], sodomy), and insist that the sovereignty of God and the doctrines of grace be taught and expounded publicly to all men. These doctrines of grace were well summed up by John Calvin in his 5 points of Calvinism: Total Depravity, Unconditional Election, Limited Atonement, Irresistible Grace, and Perseverance of the Saints....WBC engages in daily peaceful sidewalk demonstrations opposing the homosexual lifestyle of soul-damning, nation-destroying filth. We display large, colorful signs containing Bible words and sentiments, including: GOD HATES FAGS, FAGS HATE GOD, AIDS CURES FAGS, THANK GOD FOR AIDS, FAGS BURN IN HELL, GOD IS NOT MOCKED, FAGS ARE NATURE FREAKS, GOD GAVE FAGS UP, NO SPECIAL LAWS FOR FAGS, FAGS DOOM NATIONS, THANK GOD FOR DEAD SOLDIERS, FAG TROOPS, GOD BLEW UP THE TROOPS, GOD HATES AMERICA, AMERICA IS DOOMED, THE WORLD IS DOOMED, etc."
The antics of these religious bigots have been roundly condemned as despicable and profoundly distasteful. Nevertheless, their right to picket and protest are arguably within the constitutional guarantees of the First Amendment regarding religious expression, freedom of speech, and the right to petition and assemble, as those protections have been incorporated and applied to the states under the Fourteenth Amendment. In Cantwell v. State of Connecticut, 310 U.S. 296 (1940), at 310, Justice Roberts observed: "In the realm of religious faith, and in that of political belief, sharp differences arise. In both fields the tenets of one man may seem the rankest error to his neighbor. To persuade others to his own point of view, the pleader, as we know, at times, resorts to exaggeration, to vilification of men who have been, or are, prominent in church or state, and even to false statement. But the people of this nation have ordained in the light of history, that, in spite of the probabilities of excesses and abuses, these liberties are in the long view, essential to enlightened opinion and right conduct on the part of the citizens of a democracy."
As the Court in Cantwell also noted, the states may, nonetheless, impose reasonable restrictions upon the exercise of certain religious activities: ''The freedom to act must have appropriate definition to preserve the enforcement of that protection [of society]. In every case the power to regulate must be so exercised as not, in attaining a permissible end, unduly to infringe the protected freedom. . . . [A] State may by general and non-discriminatory legislation regulate the times, the places, and the manner of soliciting upon its streets, and of holding meetings thereon; and may in other respects safeguard the peace, good order and comfort of the community, without unconstitutionally invading the liberties protected by the Fourteenth Amendment.'' Id. at 304. Further, certain practices condoned or encouraged by religious groups, such as the practice of polygamy to cite one example, may be prohibited altogether as inimical to the public interest. See Reynolds v. United States, 98 US 145 (1879).
Questions about whether the restraints imposed by the Arizona legislature upon protests at funerals have been narrowly tailored to protect a compelling government interest are likely to be decided by the federal courts. What is ironic and profoundly unsettling, however, is that Arizona's political establishment, almost to a person, was able to enact legislation within a matter of days that raises complicated and vexatious issues about the exercise of First Amendment Rights, yet that very same political leadership, fearful of somehow abridging alleged "Second Amendment rights," has been unable to enact any legislation whatsoever that would impose reasonable restraints upon the acquisition of guns and high-velocity ammunition. Arizona law currently permits even a mentally ill person to purchase a AK-47.
If the right of anyone, without restriction, to purchase and acquire any number of weapons, no matter how destructive, has now become one of our core values, something is terribly wrong with our political system.
The Westboro Baptist Church is composed of a cult-like group of zealots who, over the years, have protested at the funerals of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. Its home page proudly proclaims that "The Westboro Baptist Church (WBC) of Topeka, Kansas still exists today as an Old School (or, Primitive) Baptist Church. We adhere to the teachings of the Bible, preach against all form of sin (e.g., fornication, adultery [including divorce and remarriage], sodomy), and insist that the sovereignty of God and the doctrines of grace be taught and expounded publicly to all men. These doctrines of grace were well summed up by John Calvin in his 5 points of Calvinism: Total Depravity, Unconditional Election, Limited Atonement, Irresistible Grace, and Perseverance of the Saints....WBC engages in daily peaceful sidewalk demonstrations opposing the homosexual lifestyle of soul-damning, nation-destroying filth. We display large, colorful signs containing Bible words and sentiments, including: GOD HATES FAGS, FAGS HATE GOD, AIDS CURES FAGS, THANK GOD FOR AIDS, FAGS BURN IN HELL, GOD IS NOT MOCKED, FAGS ARE NATURE FREAKS, GOD GAVE FAGS UP, NO SPECIAL LAWS FOR FAGS, FAGS DOOM NATIONS, THANK GOD FOR DEAD SOLDIERS, FAG TROOPS, GOD BLEW UP THE TROOPS, GOD HATES AMERICA, AMERICA IS DOOMED, THE WORLD IS DOOMED, etc."
The antics of these religious bigots have been roundly condemned as despicable and profoundly distasteful. Nevertheless, their right to picket and protest are arguably within the constitutional guarantees of the First Amendment regarding religious expression, freedom of speech, and the right to petition and assemble, as those protections have been incorporated and applied to the states under the Fourteenth Amendment. In Cantwell v. State of Connecticut, 310 U.S. 296 (1940), at 310, Justice Roberts observed: "In the realm of religious faith, and in that of political belief, sharp differences arise. In both fields the tenets of one man may seem the rankest error to his neighbor. To persuade others to his own point of view, the pleader, as we know, at times, resorts to exaggeration, to vilification of men who have been, or are, prominent in church or state, and even to false statement. But the people of this nation have ordained in the light of history, that, in spite of the probabilities of excesses and abuses, these liberties are in the long view, essential to enlightened opinion and right conduct on the part of the citizens of a democracy."
As the Court in Cantwell also noted, the states may, nonetheless, impose reasonable restrictions upon the exercise of certain religious activities: ''The freedom to act must have appropriate definition to preserve the enforcement of that protection [of society]. In every case the power to regulate must be so exercised as not, in attaining a permissible end, unduly to infringe the protected freedom. . . . [A] State may by general and non-discriminatory legislation regulate the times, the places, and the manner of soliciting upon its streets, and of holding meetings thereon; and may in other respects safeguard the peace, good order and comfort of the community, without unconstitutionally invading the liberties protected by the Fourteenth Amendment.'' Id. at 304. Further, certain practices condoned or encouraged by religious groups, such as the practice of polygamy to cite one example, may be prohibited altogether as inimical to the public interest. See Reynolds v. United States, 98 US 145 (1879).
Questions about whether the restraints imposed by the Arizona legislature upon protests at funerals have been narrowly tailored to protect a compelling government interest are likely to be decided by the federal courts. What is ironic and profoundly unsettling, however, is that Arizona's political establishment, almost to a person, was able to enact legislation within a matter of days that raises complicated and vexatious issues about the exercise of First Amendment Rights, yet that very same political leadership, fearful of somehow abridging alleged "Second Amendment rights," has been unable to enact any legislation whatsoever that would impose reasonable restraints upon the acquisition of guns and high-velocity ammunition. Arizona law currently permits even a mentally ill person to purchase a AK-47.
If the right of anyone, without restriction, to purchase and acquire any number of weapons, no matter how destructive, has now become one of our core values, something is terribly wrong with our political system.