In a Supreme Court ruling today, the Supreme Court ruled in Snyder v. Phelps that hateful protests at military funerals are protected by the First Amendment. The full decision is available for download on the Supreme Court's website, http://www.supremecourt.gov/, and the New York Times has an article about the ruling on their website.
However, Justice Stephen G. Breyer said that television broadcasts and internet postings might have different rules. Why is that so, aren't both of these mediums already protected under the First Amendment?
Broadcasting is protected under the 1st Amendment, as is the Internet, but each medium has a different set of rules. We discussed this briefly with regard to the Court's decision in the Red Lion Broadcasting case, which upheld the fairness doctrine and the equal time rules. Internet cases have largely centered around protecting children from online pornography, and have been substantially more restrictive of government regulation.
ReplyDeleteSo this is the second time today I've come across a story about protests or the like at funerals. We discussed in class the protection of the church to call a man evil for being gay at his funeral. Where does first amendment protection end. Does someone need to be physically assaulted in order for him to be protected. These men are literally dead and yet anyone can piss on their graves (so to speak) before they are even filled in?
ReplyDeleteSo, where does freedom of speech end?