Civil Freedoms Pros And Cons

In Snyder v. Phelps, dissenting Justice Samuel Alito likened the protests of the Westboro Baptist Church members to fighting words and of a personal character, and thus not protected speech. The majority disagreed and stated that the protester's speech was not personal but public, and that local laws which can shield funeral attendees from protesters are adequate for protecting those in times of emotional

From the beginning, the United States Constitution has guaranteed the American people civil liberties. These liberties have given citizens rights to speak, believe, and act freely. The Constitution grants citizens the courage to express their mind about something they believe is immoral or unjust. The question is, how far are citizens willing to extend the meanings of these liberties? Some people believe that American citizens take advantage of their civil liberties, harming those around them. On the contrary, many other people feel that civil liberties are necessary tools to fight for their Constitutional rights.

One of the most misinterpreted aspects of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms is the freedom of expression. Group organizations have misused this much too often. In the past, many extremist groups have misused this right to protect themselves. A great example is the Westboro Baptist Church. This church is one of the many groups across North America that uses the Charter to protect themselves. The Charter protects them even though their actions and messages are harmful and not beneficial to society. If the Charter was to recognize these groups as dangerous, they wouldn’t have the chance to misuse these freedoms. Also, the fact that if a Canadian citizen were to use the excuse of the freedom of expression to defend their actions, they wouldn’t

The United States Constitution was drafted up to help America grow as a country and be a country where everyone wanted to live. It was written as a guidline to follow to ensure its citizens rights and liberties, and their pursuit to happiness. There is a lot of controversy over the US constitution on whether or not some of the things in there are good or bad or what not. I think that the United States Constitution was very well written and it follows a very principalistic guidline and it has its own moral and principals. Just like the unalienable rights that everyone talks about. These rights are meant to stand for its people. They cannot be taken away from the government, they cant be tampered with by the government or anything like

The Westboro Baptist Church is a group that has been in the spotlight for the last two decades because of their unusual tactic of picketing at soldier’s funerals. The act is motivated by the notion that America’s moral are being corrupted by their acceptance of homosexuality. The act of picketing of soldier’s funerals according to the group is motivated by the fact that it is a time when mourners are emotionally vulnerable and they think of their mortality. They believe that by picketing in soldier’s funerals their message is stronger. However, this tactic has caused much consternation from both the public and the government. In the interest of the public, state legislatures have enacted laws against the actions of the Westboro Baptist Church. The landmark case of Snyder v. Phelps would have been the deciding factor against the group, but the Supreme Court held in favor of the group because their actions were protected by the First Amendment. This then would present the notion that the First Amendment trumped public interest in the decision. However, that is not the case because the case was an IIED case among others, it was a personal one. As long as the group coordinates with public authorities and does not break laws, then their acts are nothing more than nuisances that should not get in the way of celebrating the life of the dead.

Funeral protests have been an issue for years. During this most recent war, as soldiers were coming home to be laid to rest, Westboro Baptist Church made headlines by protesting at the funerals of fallen soldiers. During the services, members of the church would gather outside of many of the military funerals waving signs that had offensive messages on them such as, “God Hates You”, and “Thank God for Dead Soldiers”. The members of this church believe that the death of the soldiers is God’s punishment for the tolerance of homosexuality in the United States. Last year the U.S, Supreme Court ruled that the First Amendment protects these groups and any others who

When talking about the First Amendment, the law protects us from freedom of speech and free exercise of religion and it also stops Congress from making any new law to prohibit free speech and free exercise. The case involving a Christian printer who refused to print gay pride T-shirts. The printer declined the printing job for T-shirts promoting a gay pride festival on religious grounds, but he did offer the customer to help them find other local printers to do the work for the same price. Based on the information that was provided the printer had a history of rejecting other orders for shirts promoting sexually explicit material/actions and violence.

In the Denver Posts editorial "Putting up with Hate", the first amendment right of Americans is seriously discussed. A case over funeral protesting reached the Supreme Court. The issue was that a church group traveled to a funeral of a deceased soldier to protest it. The reasons were not because of the soldiers individual actions but because he had served in the army. This sparked the debate on whether this group should be allowed to do what they did. The dispute was whether the first amendment should be protected at all times even when it is a difficult price to pay. The Supreme Court ruled that the first amendment right will be protected at all times. The argument against that was if the speech caused sorrow, it should be ruled illegal. The Supreme Court stated that if they were to stifle the speech of the protesters that it would spark public debate on many other things. The Denver Post also states that the Supreme Court ruled that the protestors obeyed police laws which is staying at least 1,000 feet away from feet from the sight of the funeral.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in an 8-1 decision in favor of Phelps and the Westboro Baptist Church upholding the decision of the Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit; stating that the funeral was undisturbed by the protestors. The protestors were about 1,000 feet away on public land and the Snyder family could not see more than just the top of the protestors’ signs. There was no indication that the protest interfered with the funeral service itself. Phelps and the Westboro

Furthermore, the majority of Americans feel the system laid out by the constitution does sufficiently protect their rights sufficiently. Although the constitution does have its flaws (for example it does not even explicitly mention the rights of the people to vote) it does perpetuate a system that protects the rights of the citizens based on prevailing public opinion – which is more democratic than an outlining of eternal liberties. The fact that the constitution outlines the separation of powers (to the executive, legislature and judiciary) ensures no one body can amass too much power and exploit the rights of the people. Dare I say it but even the Second Amendment – the Right to Bear Arms, allows the people to protect themselves from a tyrannical government and thus protect their rights from central government and other potential oppressors. The use of an impartial judiciary with

Overall The United States national government does a pretty good job. They may have some things they need to work on, but all and all they do a good job. The U.S. constitution is the cornerstone of our federal government. It establishes a basic operational framework that enables the three branches of government- executive, legislative, and judicial- to interact and function as a unit. No Child Left Behind, a law passed by Congress in 2002 that requires schools to meet certain educational outcomes, as usually demonstrated through standardized tests.

In the words of the court, “no reasonable reader could interpret any of these signs as asserting actual and objectively verifiable facts about Snyder or his son”.[14] In concluding their decision, the court let it be known that they were not defending the Phelps’ actions, quoting a colleague and saying that judges defending the Constitution “must sometimes share [their] foxhole with scoundrels of every sort, but to abandon the post because of the poor company is to sell freedom cheaply. It is a fair summary of history to say that the safeguards of liberty have often been forged in controversies involving not very nice people."[15] Essentially, although the court was morally against the Phelps family, they recognized the importance of upholding the Constitution and protecting individual freedoms. Looking at the facts of the case and the decision of the court, it seems evident that the Westboro Baptist Church does have the legal right to continue their

Since the creation of the constitution in 1789, people have found ways to disobey the laws written by our founding fathers. Most crimes have punishments that give fair consequences to the misconduct of the person, but some cases prove otherwise. The Bill of Rights were created to override all other law and provide a basis for moral wrongs and rights. Each amendment was written with a purpose to shape our country and give individual citizens the rights they believed were naturally theirs. One case, taken into the hands of the Supreme Court during World War I, caused an uproar of disagreement, to whether the case was decided unfairly. To this day, the case still remains arguable to whether this individual deserved the punishment that was given.

Do you want more freedom? Will you take sides with Publius or Brutus? There will be a new constitution if you choose Publius, our Federal government will be powerful enough to conserve our freedom, promote our trade and protect our properties! This is why the new Constitution is the best idea! The AOC does not give enough power.

The Civil Rights Movement, popular in the 1950s and 1960s, was a large group of people who fought for the equal rights of the African Americans. The people of the movement constantly protested the lack of equality in hopes to change the ideals of the white leaders. In efforts to suppress the protesting, whites passed several laws attempting to give blacks their full rights. Even then, white employers were reluctant to hire any man of color, which caused unemployment rates to skyrocket. Because of the high unemployment rates, the whites continued to view themselves as superior over every other race. After the blacks were legally “free,” they still faced a plethora of violent acts and segregation. This caused the Civil Rights Movement to