2011-03-04, 12:35 PM
Hazzy Wrote:It sounds like you want people to justify their speech before it's protected... which is not how the Constitution works. Paraphrasing the court: Their protest addresses a public manner, so it's protected. They're not calling out Snyder in particular. He knew they were going to be there. They called ahead and talk with the police about being there.
If people are that upset about the issue, they should look at their local governments and not at the Federal.
Ok, lets break it down just a little bit here. The first amendment reads as follows:
Quote:Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
The key part here is the last portion. It says they have the right to assemble peacefully and to petition the government for a redress of grievences. This means that protesting should be aimed at the government. Their aim is at the people not the government. That is where they are wrong. Just because it is a "public issue" does not mean that they can in fact protest the public. That was not the intention of the founding fathers, hense the reason they added that last line. Otherwise the word and would have been the word or.