Quote:
Originally Posted by spazlabz
a permit does not allow that, it just allows them to asemble in a specific spot and also allows the cops to know whats going on. It is the first amendment that gives them the right to blatantly disrupt a private funeral. It sucks but it is what we allow.
Probably one of the most famous cases involving a group of miscreants and the first amendment was in Skokie Il where the American nazi party was planning to march. The ACLU defended their right to march there based on the first amendment and their lawyer was of Jewish descent. The argument being that the first amendment is there to protect the people we find vile and disgusting even more so then the people we agree with. Skokie is a predominantly Jewish community (Fantastic bagels I am not kidding!) and at the time had a small but substantial holocaust survivor community.
The nazi's won but were allowed to march in Chicago instead
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That is sort of the same thing, antagonistic assholes couching their bullshit as a "belief" in a place and manner designed to inflict maximum damage. However, a funeral is a small one time event. A neighborhood continues to exist and can be left for the day.
In the larger scheme, however, genuine peaceable protest assembly is an important part of our democracy. Protection of side shows denigrates that, equating general desire for reform with insane outliers. It is detrimental to the image of protest, which is a legitimate form of governing dialog.