Marathon Pundit points to a Daily Herald story that says Illinois Lieutenant Governor Pat Quinn is proposing a suspiciously censorial law prohibiting protest within 300 feet of a funeral.
As is typical of most proposed censorship, Quinn’s bill is in response to some bastard who is using freedom of speech to say ugly things. Specifically, this bill is in response to the “unique picketing ministry” of something called the Westboro Baptist Church, run by Fred Phelps. I think you can learn everything you need to know about this outfit from it’s web URL. Not it’s web site, just the URL:
(It’s marked NSFW because the content probably violates your company’s anti-descrimination policies. You do not want a hit to that page showing up on your web access records.)
Suffice it to say that they are unhappy with the modern acceptance of homosexuality and have decided to fight against it by staging protests at military funerals. There’s more to it than that. Their FAQ page provides detailed answers.
As despicable as these people are, however, I’m not sure that Lt. Gov. Quinn’s proposed law is a good approach. It’s hard to tell though, because I can’t find the language of the proposed “Let Them Rest in Peace Act” on the Illinois General Assembly web site. If the bill simply makes it illegal to engage in disruptive behavior within 300 feet of a funeral, that’s not censorship, it’s just noise control. I don’t have a problem with that, and I don’t think the ACLU will either.
But if the act distinguishes between different acts based on the content of speech or the signs, then it’s censorship and is as un-American as anything Fred Phelps has to say. Here’s hoping Quinn did the right thing in drafting this bill, so freedom-loving americans don’t have to waste time fighting censorship for Fred Phelps’ benefit.
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