U.S. Supreme Court,
Constitutional Law
Oct. 24, 2009
A Blow for Freedom of Speech
Charles Doskow of the University of La Verne College of Law comments on Westboro Baptist Church's stance on homosexuality.
Charles S. Doskow
Dean Emeritus and Professor of Law, University of La Verne College of Law
Email: dosklaw@aol.com
Harvard Law School
Charles is a past president of the Inland Empire Chapter of the Federal Bar Association, and in 2012 was awarded the chapter's Erwin Chemerinsky Defender of the Constitution award.
Freedom of speech is best tested by those whose speech is most obnoxious to an overwhelming majority of the population. When a court applies constitutional principles to prevent the suppression of unpopular, unpatriotic and bigoted speech, a blow for freedom has been struck.
The 4th U.S. Court of Appeals struck such a blow recently when it reversed a judgment against the Westboro Baptist Church for picketing the funerals of American servicemen. (Snyder v. Phelps, 580 F. 3d...
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