I don't think the Founding Fathers intended the First Amendment to be a shield against hate-speech.
If Phelps was just bitching about the war, that would be one thing. What he's doing is wrong in so many ways, that if this law keeps his brand of pseudo-Christian hatred away from grieving families... Well, I think the First Amendment can survive this one.
The First Amendment is not all-inclusive. You can't claim First Amendment privileges for yelling "Fire" in a crowded theater when there is no fire, and you can't claim a right to free speech when your speech only serves (as an example) to incite a riot.
Likewise, hate speech isn't protected. And that's what Phelps and his pseudo-Christian zealots are doing. If they were merely protesting the war, I would have much less of an issue with it. I would still question the merits of protesting at a funeral for a soldier.
But they're not doing that. They are promoting an anti-homosexual agenda, and they're doing it at the expense of griefing families.
As far as I am concerned, free speech is a responsibility as well as a right. And they've shown they can't be responsible with it.
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If Phelps was just bitching about the war, that would be one thing. What he's doing is wrong in so many ways, that if this law keeps his brand of pseudo-Christian hatred away from grieving families... Well, I think the First Amendment can survive this one.
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Likewise, hate speech isn't protected. And that's what Phelps and his pseudo-Christian zealots are doing. If they were merely protesting the war, I would have much less of an issue with it. I would still question the merits of protesting at a funeral for a soldier.
But they're not doing that. They are promoting an anti-homosexual agenda, and they're doing it at the expense of griefing families.
As far as I am concerned, free speech is a responsibility as well as a right. And they've shown they can't be responsible with it.